2013 horse meat scandal

The 2013 horsemeat scandal was a food fraud crisis that began on 15 January 2013 when it was reported that a wide range of food products advertised in the European Union as containing beef were found to contain undeclared or improperly declared horse meat. The crisis escalated in February 2013 when some Findus products were found to contain as much as 100% horsemeat instead of beef.[1] A smaller number of products also contained other undeclared meats, such as pork. The issue was discovered through DNA testing on frozen beefburgers and lasagne sold in several Irish and British supermarkets.[2]

The analysis stated that 23 out of 27 samples of beef burgers also contained pig DNA. Adherents of some religions are forbidden from eating pork or horse meat due to their beliefs.[3]

While the presence of undeclared meat was not a health issue, the scandal revealed a major breakdown in the traceability of the food supply chain, and the risk that harmful ingredients could have been included as well. Sports horses, for example, could have entered the food supply chain, and with them the veterinary drug phenylbutazone, which is banned in food animals. The scandal later spread to 13 other European countries, and European authorities decided to find an EU-wide solution.

Investigations

Companies

Source of meat

The horse meat that was found in Comigel products originated at Doly Com,[58] a Romanian-based slaughterhouse. An inquiry by the French government showed that "the meat had left Romania clearly and correctly labelled as horse. It was afterwards that it was relabelled as beef."[59] Doly Com supplied the horse meat under a contract to Cyprus-based Draap Trading Ltd, a meat trader which operates in the Netherlands. It is owned by a British Virgin Islands holding company, and Jan Fasen is a director. Draap spelt backwards is paard, the Dutch word for horse.[60] After having the horse meat delivered to a cold storage company in Breda, Draap then sold the frozen meat to Spanghero,[61] who insist that it arrived at their Castelnaudary plant labelled as "Beef – originating in EU".[60]

Health implications

A small survey, part of the EU-funded project FoodRisC, by a team from University College Dublin and Brunel University found that health risks were not respondents' first concern, but rather that the claims made on labels did not match the contents of food products.[64] Additional concerns included allegations that a "French plant which handled horse meat sold in Britain as beef has previously been at the centre of a major E.coli discovery".[65] Inquiry into horse meat sources in the UK also revealed that Aintree racecourse has a contract with a licensed slaughterhouse in West Yorkshire to remove dead Grand National race horses. It is illegal for horses euthanised by injection to be put into the human food chain. Many chemical agents used for animal euthanasia leave residues in the meat which may be harmful to humans, and have caused sickness and death in predators and scavengers.[66] Aintree officials stated they were "as confident as we possibly can be that no unfit meat ever reaches the human food chain."

Contributory causes

An article by Will Hutton about contamination in the UK lays much of the responsibility at the door of those who have removed much of the regulation of the meat industry, and cut the budgets and workforces—halving the number of inspectors—of those responsible for enforcing the remaining regulations.[90] Another article points out that "Long business supply chains are corruptible and can hide a multitude of crimes if no one checks for fraud or criminal activity".[91]

In Britain, the incident was a catalyst for the discussion of the validity of a self-regulated meat industry. Karen Jennings, assistant general secretary of the UNISON trades union, said that "the industry isn't fit to regulate itself".[92]

Implications for religious groups

Observant Muslims and Jews consider it sinful to eat certain types of meat, pork for both groups and also horse and many other animals for Jews, due to religious prohibitions. Professor Reilly stated "for some religious groups or people who abstain from eating pig meat, the presence of traces of pig DNA is unacceptable".[93] On 15 March 2013, it was confirmed by a Westminster survey on health and safety that pig DNA had been found in halal chicken sausages produced for schools.[94]

Reactions

Horse meat is not normally eaten in Ireland and Britain. According to Professor Reilly, chief executive of the FSAI, "In Ireland, it is not our culture to eat horse meat and therefore, we do not expect to find it in a burger".[95] Silvercrest, a subsidiary of ABP Foods has claimed that there is no risk to the public upon eating the foreign meat.[96] Eleven firms, including Tesco and Asda, said they shared shoppers' "anger and outrage".[55] Whitbread vowed to remedy the unacceptable situation.[97] The Food Standards Agency's (FSA) chief executive, Catherine Brown also said "it is unlikely we will ever know" how many unwittingly ate horsemeat.[54]

Factories

Arrests

On 23 May 2013, a Dutch meat wholesaler, Willy Selten, was arrested for allegedly selling 300 tonnes of horsemeat as beef. Selten, who owns the meat wholesaler Willy Selten BV, was arrested together with the company's interim director.[106] In October Barry Gardiner MP, the UK shadow Environment minister criticised the lack of prosecutions of leading players ten months after David Cameron promised that everything possible would be done to deal with a "very shocking" crime. Gardiner said "The extraordinary thing is that because of its clout, industry has been able to commit what appears to be a criminal offence – selling the public horsemeat falsely labelled as beef – and just say they are sorry and didn't know."[107]

On 26 August 2016, Andronicos Sideras, owner of Dinos and Sons Ltd, was charged with conspiring with Ulrich Nielsen and Alex Ostler-Beech, of Flexi Foods, to sell horsemeat as beef between 1 January 2012 – 31 October 2012 by the City of London Police.[108] On 2 August 2017 Sideras was jailed for four years and six months and Nielsen for three years and six months, while Ostler-Beech was given an 18-month suspended sentence and a 120 hour-community service order.[109]

December seizures

In December 2013, consignments of horse meat were seized and arrests were made. 21 people were arrested on Monday 16 December in various parts of the South of France. This meat was from horses kept on a farm attached to a scientific laboratory and not certified as fit for human consumption. A dealer from Narbonne was helping police with enquiries.[110]

Timeline

(The IdentiGen and Eurofin laboratories are both accredited to the European Standard EN ISO/IEC 17025:2005.)

See also

• 2008 Irish pork crisis
• 2013 aflatoxin infestation
• List of food contamination incidents
• Mad cow crisis
• Taboo food and drink
• Pink slime
• Geriatric horses