Food authenticity
The Food
Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has published the findings of a
targeted study on meat authenticity. It is important to stress that authenticity
is not a primarily a food safety, but a food standards issue. However some
contaminants used can have either acute or chronic food safety implications. Tests
are undertaken by governments and food authorities around the world to
determine whether food is authentic i.e. it is what is stated on the label.
Recent
investigations in the UK have included the recall of counterfeit
vodka in April 2012. The Food
Standards Agency (FSA) estimates that alcohol fraud costs the UK economy
more £1bn lost in revenue each year with spirits alone accounting for £130
million[1]. To adulterate means to add impure, improper, or inferior ingredients. In the
1800s adulteration was commonplace in the UK. Bakers would whiten their bread with chalk and sawdust and brewers would add bitter substances to save on the
cost of hops. The first Food Adulteration Act was passed in
the UK in 1860. More recently there was
the "antifreeze scandal" of 1985, when European wine was found to be
adulterated with diethylene glycol and the melamine incident with adulteration
of wheat gluten and milk powder in China starting in 2007 but adulteration
continues to be a problem in China. At
least six babies died and
294,000 more were made sick in the melamine incident and thousands of products
were recalled on a global scale as a result of Chinese milk powder being used as
an ingredient.
A national
survey in India of adulteration in liquid milk in 2011 by the Food Safety
and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) found that 68.4% of samples tested were
non-conforming. In some states the level of non-compliance was 100%.
Operation Fox' was an investigation undertaken by UK
authorities into a large-scale fraud involving the recycling of condemned
poultry meat back into the human food chain. This investigation and resultant
court proceedings led to the conviction at Hull Crown Court of the meat-fraud
gang, receiving combined sentences of 18 years[2].
The report released in by the FSAI yesterday[3]
gave the results for a study that tested for the presence of horse and pig DNA,
in beef burger products. The press
release highlights that:
The beef burger products which tested positive for horse DNA were produced by two processing plants (Liffey Meats and Silvercrest Foods) in Ireland and one plant (Dalepak Hambleton) in the UK. They were on sale in Tesco, Dunnes Stores, Lidl, Aldi and Iceland. In nine of the ten beef burger samples from these retailers, horse DNA was found at very low levels. However, in one sample from
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