A UK supermarket has become embroiled in a major beef fraud investigation after selling South American and European beef as British.
The National Food Crime Unit (NFCU), part of the Food Standards Agency, has not named the supermarket but said that pre-packed meat and deli products from South America and Europe have been supplied to the retailer and labelled as British.
The investigation involves the review of about 1.3 million documents with products being sold to customers as “best British beef”, Farmers Weekly reported.
Shadow environment secretary Jim McMahon said in response: “We were told the lessons of the horsemeat scandal had been learnt, but unfortunately this investigation could cast that into doubt.
“There are clearly very serious questions to answer and it’s right that an urgent investigation is currently under way.”
The NFCU said the retailer in question has now removed all affected products from its shelves.
In 2013, horsemeat was discovered in the food supply chain in products being sold as beef.
Millions of products were withdrawn all over Europe at great cost to the industry and the UK economy.
Andrew Quinn, deputy head of the NFCU, confirmed the agency is investigating a supply of fraudulent pre-packed sliced meat and deli products.
He said: “The retailer was notified on the same day that we took action against the food business suspected of the fraud and immediately removed all affected products from their shelves.
“The retailer continues to work closely and co-operatively with the NFCU investigation to progress the case against the supplier. This is not a food safety issue but a matter of food fraud.
“Any fraud investigations of this nature take time to go through evidence and bring to any outcome, including any potential prosecution. We take food fraud very seriously and are acting urgently to protect the consumer.”
At the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) conference last month, president Minette Batters warned against the possibility of another food scandal, saying: “Ten years on from the horsegate scandal, we cannot afford to be so complacent about the risks that continue to exist.”
Environment Secretary Therese Coffey later told the conference that the Government has worked hard to ensure biosecurity and that “we shouldn’t be putting ideas into people’s minds” in case consumers are scared off.
