The Calvé mayonnaise, made by Unilever, doesn’t have it.
He doesn’t even have Hellmann’s mayonnaise, another Unilever trademark.
Not even mayonnaise and Kraft sauces are equipped.
Not is the mayonnaise from the multinational Heinz. Coming to Italy, they don’t have mayonnaise and Formec sauces.
Neither does his Biffi brand.
And last but not even the mayonnaise Saclà is equipped.
But what is it that all these great food players, mayonnaise makers and mayonnaise-based sauces do not have?
They do not have the CE mark on egg products.
What is the EC egg mark?
The EC Stamp is a health authorisation that allows the free movement of food of animal origin (meat, milk, fishery products, eggs and their derivatives) between the EU countries, or is a Community Recognition awarded to the production premises of a production/marketing establishment
Establishments where products of animal origin are processed for which specific hygiene requirements are laid down, in addition to the general requirements laid down in Reg. CE 852/04, are subject to approval and can therefore operate only if they obtain an approval number.
Reg. CE 853/04 lays down specific hygiene requirements for certain establishments listed in DGR 5-5600, Annex II – “Non-exhaustive list of establishments subject to approval under Regulation (CE) 853/2004”, including slaughterhouses, meat cutting plants, establishments processing eggs, etc.
Products of animal origin from these establishments are marked with a health mark in accordance with Reg. CE 854/04 or an identification mark in accordance with Reg. CE 853/04.
Practically, it is the highest health and hygiene guarantee that exists in the European Union to protect European consumers for meat products and their derivatives.
CE stamps in the European Union cover 4 products:
- Meat
- Eggs
- Fish
- Milk
TUTTOVO, producer of Biobontà sauces, is the only company in Italy to have the CE mark, for egg products, producing mayonnaise.
The company has the CE stamp:
means that it was among the top 3 certified companies in Italy, a good result for a PMI!
But is this EC mark compulsory for companies producing mayonnaise based on eggs?
No, if they buy the egg products from companies that have the CE mark and then treat the eggs according to the law.
So what does Tuttovo get for having the CE mark?
What differences with voluntary standards
The merit is to accept to be subject to strict legal rules to make its productions.
The EC mark requires a veterinarian responsible for the ASL to take charge of the holding and to carry out regular and frequent visits to the holding, to make programmes for taking products for bacteriological analysis, inspections of raw materials, environments, machinery, clothing of the staff, etc
The veterinarian is a ministerial official (equivalent to a police officer) of the Italian State, and can visit the Tuttovo plant at any time without prior notice and without being prevented from entering for any reason.
Ok, but all the major food companies, including the ones we mentioned at the beginning, have certifications like BRC, IFS, ISO, etc.
Of course, absolutely true.
But these are voluntary rules.
Voluntary quality certifications are therefore paths that complement the mandatory requirements and that companies decide to undertake, to provide extra guarantees to their customers on the reliability and quality of the products they produce.
You pay a third party to obtain a certification, then giving diligent application to the procedures of which the certification itself is composed.
If the required procedures are not applied correctly or completely, the possibility of using the certification will lapse.
The result can be a significant commercial damage, as customers interested in a certification, can suspend purchases of products without the same certification.
It is certainly no small thing.
In the case of possession of the CE mark, as is the case for Tuttovo, if the ASL veterinarian finds a serious non-compliance he implements a completely different procedure.
It does not remove the CE stamp from the company, because this possibility is not within its competence, but sends the company manager, usually the administrator, before the court.
And this is about criminal justice!
Here the great and decisive difference between voluntary norms and norms of law.
On the one hand the lapse of a certification, on the other (the CE stamp) the intervention of the judiciary, with the possibility of criminal convictions even very severe and handicapped. Think of the administrator who, after burning his parole for a food offence, can be imprisoned for a car accident!
That’s why multinationals do not have the stamp
You understand well at this point, that large companies and especially the multinationals of food are careful to bring into the company a nuisance such as the CE mark egg products, since they do not strictly have the obligation.
But, you will say, in addition to the CE stamp there are inspections of the ASL, the NAS, the Fraud Repression, the Traffic Police, etc.
All true, but these are occasional and random inspections, which may not even occur for several years if there are no particular issues in food companies.
With the CE mark, inspections are constant and regular throughout the year.
In addition, it can also be extracted from the Commission of the European Community, as has happened to Tuttovo twice.
In this case, the inspection shall be carried out by EC officials who shall assist the veterinarian responsible for the supervision of the holding.
There are over 20 procedures that the TUTTOVO puts in place to produce sauces Biobontà and thus comply with the requirements of the law, which concern the raw materials, semi-finished products that the company places on the market, the company staff, their clothing and their constant training/information.
Innovation and high product quality combined with a strong attention to the well-being and safety of the consumer, are the objectives that inspire the mission of TUTTOVO in producing sauces Biobontà.
We could also write, as multinationals do, a beautiful “corporate mission“.
Frame it and put it in the office.
More concretely, we of Biobontà prefer to operate to authentic consumer defense.
And we do so by applying with passion and seriousness the rules and procedures of the CE stamp to the production of our sauces.
