For mince, both official texts say 2 °C. The +3 °C figure appears in Annex 2 of the ATP Roadside Inspection Guide of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure. The same table lists offal at +4, mince at +3 and untreated fish at +2, while the text of ATP Annex 3 gives offal +3, mince +2 and fish at melting-ice temperature, so the table sits one row off the text.
| Text | Limit for mince |
|---|---|
| ATP Annex 3, carriage | +2 °C or the temperature stated on the label |
| Animal-origin hygiene regulation, Article 31 | core at most 2 °C, frozen -18 °C or below; kept through storage and carriage |
| ATP inspection guide, Annex 2 | +3 °C, does not match the ATP text |
The working limit for a shipment is therefore 2 °C; if the contract sets a narrower limit, the narrowest applies. The regulation also starts the clock at slaughter: mince from chilled red meat within 6 days, from vacuum-packed boneless beef and veal within 15 days, from poultry within 3 days. These are windows for the raw material entering mince, not shelf life after production.
Knowing the gap between the two figures also tells you which document to open when building a cold chain with the vehicles you already have.
Frozen mince is held at -18 °C or below. The 2014 communique on quick-frozen foods tolerates a short-term rise of no more than 3 °C during carriage and distribution.
The shipment file lists slaughter date, production lot, mince core temperature and air temperature on separate lines. An ATP certificate shows the class of the vehicle and does not stand in for the internal temperature of the product.
