Importing cakes or sweets
Thursday 31 May 2007
Cakes, pastries, sweet pies and chocolate can contain small amounts of products of animal origin, such as eggs, milk, butter or suet. They may be treated as products of animal origin when they are imported if they have high levels of dairy products and have not undergone sufficient heat treatment or if they are not ambient stable.
Sweets that contain high levels of dairy products (for example Indian sweets) are also considered to be products of animal origin when imported. This means that each batch you import may need to:
- have a veterinary and/or public health certificate
- come from European Union (EU) approved premises
- enter the EU through a Border Inspection Post where veterinary checks must be carried out
- come from a country authorised by the EC to export this type of product to the EU
Examples of Indian sweets that may be considered products of animal origin are gulab jamun, halwah or halva, ras malai, ras gullah, ladoos, burfi and chum-chum. Rules about products will depend on what percentage is dairy.
A list of establishments approved to export dairy products to the EU can be found on the European Union (EU) website at the link below.
These products are also likely to be subject to licensing requirements to protect animal health. You should consult Animal Health, an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) about this. Email ahitchelmsford@animalhealth.gsi.gov.uk for more information.
Remember that all food products that you import must comply with general regulations on issues such as labelling.
