The Food Standards Agency has confirmed that no new samples of horse meat have been found in widespread tests that included supermarkets, smaller shops and butchers. Tests were also carried out at manufacturers supplying retailers or mass caterers, including those supplying schools, prisons and hospitals.
Since 2013, the FSA has been working with the European Commission and industry in an extensive programme of testing to detect horse meat. These tests were carried out to check that beef products on sale or supplied into the UK food-chain were accurately labelled and did not contain horse meat DNA, following the discovery of horse meat in a range of products for sale across Europe.
The FSA has published its fourth quarterly report of industry results from the testing of meat products for horse meat or horse DNA. The report includes 3,395 new results for beef products, and 2,466 results for other (non-beef) meat products. These figures include all test results submitted since the compilation of the third report, published in January 2014.
The news follows a report earlier in the year which confirmed that consumer trust in the food and beverage sector had improved and was stable, but fragile, following events such as the horsemeat scandal. The study, conducted by research firm Edelman Berland, said the results outlined calls from the public for more regulation and transparency.
Speaking to FoodIngredientsFirst, the company’s director of corporate and food, Anneloes Roeleveld, said that consumers don’t want to worry about what they eat and drink every day. “Indeed, food scandals around horse meat and ‘plofkip’ in the Netherlands have shaken our sense of security and stirred a sense of unease that we do not always know what it is we are eating.
“Consumers want to know that the food they eat and the beverages they drink are quality controlled, clearly labelled and responsibly sourced,” she said.
The food industry has continued to test meat products for the presence of horse meat/DNA since the previous quarterly update. A total of 50,876 results for horse meat/DNA in meat products have been submitted by industry to the FSA since 15 February 2013. Of these, 47 were positive samples. No new positive results have been reported since the first quarterly report in June 2013.
In addition to the industry testing, the UK also participated in a second round of EU-wide testing for undeclared horse meat in processed beef products. The latest round of 150 samples were taken by 24 local authorities and found no traces of horse meat. The majority of samples were taken in the first two weeks of the sampling period which ran from 21 April to 16 June 2014.
A range of processed beef products were tested for undeclared horse meat as part of this EU-wide survey requested by the European Commission. These included ready meals containing beef, canned beef products, beef sausages, beef burgers, minced beef and beef meat balls.
Local authorities were asked to take samples from retail outlets including major and medium sized supermarkets and smaller shops and butchers. They were also asked to sample from wholesale ‘cash and carry’ premises and manufacturers supplying retailers or mass caterers. This included businesses supplying public institutions such as schools, prisons and hospitals.
A small number of composition/labelling issues were detected in relation to presence of other meats (not horse). Local authority enforcement officers are taking action to address non-compliance in all these cases.
The news follows a call earlier this year by Monique Goyens, director general of The European Consumer Organisation, for a greater transparency of our food chain.
The horsemeat scandal was a wake-up call, one which put food fraud on Europe's radar. These incidents were only the latest in a long line, which shows the current system is too permissive,” she said.
"The measures announced by the Commission to better shield consumers from food fraud have changed nothing on the ground. One year on, another 'horsegate' could easily make the headlines tomorrow.”
"Consumer confidence in the food sector continues to reel, but greater transparency of our food chain is the remedy. Clearer labels and tougher controls need to be enacted to make manufacturers more liable for what they put in our food.
"We need higher financial penalties for those businesses who take risks, while independent inspections should remain the norm.”
