We have all been in the position, at one point or another, of being so hungry we could eat a horse. Yet it appears that certain UK supermarkets have taken this saying a little too seriously, with horrified customers of stores such as Tesco, Lidl and Aldi being informed this week that their value beef burgers contain traces of horse meat – something that the Food Standards Agency will be launching an investigation into in the weeks ahead.
The affected food items were produced at two sites in Ireland and one in North Yorkshire, with all three processing plants blaming suppliers from continental Europe for the equine additions to the meat. Subsidiary of supermarket supplier ABP Foods, Irish plant Silvercrest, has already announced that all of its products would be pulled from shelves nationwide and replaced by new lines while its own investigation into its suppliers takes place.
In a statement released to the press, Silvercrest said; “Although the products pose no risk to public health, Silvercrest has taken immediate action to isolate, withdraw and replace all suspect product.
“Silvercrest has never purchased or traded in equine product and has launched a full scale investigation into two continental European third party suppliers who are the suspected source of the product in question.”
While the majority of products found to be contaminated contained only trace amounts of horse meat, anyone who has Tesco Everyday Value burgers in their fridge or freezer may want to dispose of the item – 29 per cent of the “beef” burger was actually comprised of horse meat.
It is not illegal to trade in horse meat in the UK, yet by not declaring the presence of the equine product retailers have certainly broken the law. The Food Standards Agency will need to determine whether the retailers in question will be held accountable for the fact that foodstuffs appeared in the burgers that were not declared on the label yet, as some critics have pointed out, this could simply be closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.
Tesco issued an apology for the presence of the horse meat and stated that it has ceased to trade with the factory believed to be the root of the issue until the results of the investigation by the Food Standards Agency have been released.
Technical director of Tesco, Tim Smith, said; “We immediately withdrew from sale all products from the supplier in question.
“We are working with the authorities in Ireland and the UK, and with the supplier concerned, to urgently understand how this has happened and how to ensure it does not happen again.
“The safety and quality of our food is of the highest importance to Tesco – we will not tolerate any compromise in the quality of food we sell. We understand that many of our customers will be concerned by this news and we apologise sincerely for any distress.”
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland made the startling discovery in the first place, and was keen to stress that their findings showed faults with the integrity, rather than the safety, of the products sold in British and Irish supermarkets. Out of the ten samples tested, the only chain found to be retailing 100 per cent beef burgers was Marks and Spencer, as opposed to the offerings from Tesco, Aldi and Lidl which contained trace to moderate amounts of pork or horse.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt was also invited to voice his opinion on the matter, which industry experts believe could undo all of Tesco’s good work in winning back consumers over the past few months.
He said; “There is no health risk from this but we are right to be very concerned, obviously.
“If any food is sold which is different to what the label says then it is a matter of very great concern, and I know that the Food Standards Agency are looking into this very, very carefully indeed.”
Only time will tell what damage this latest revelation will do to Tesco, which has spent much of the last year attempting to fight off growing competition from rivals such as Sainsbury’s, Asda and the budget supermarkets also implicated in this scandal. Hopefully, since Tesco has taken out full page newspaper ads to apologise, the issue will die down “be-furlong” and customers of the supermarket giant will no longer find any unexpected items in the bagging area!
Do you think the fact that horse meat has been found in beef burgers has been blown out of proportion as it is not actually harmful, or do you agree with the Food Standards Agency in that Tesco should be held accountable for selling items without the full ingredients listed on the label? Share your thoughts on this story below and, of course, submit your favourite pun at the same time!
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