Now we know we can add horse meat in beef lasagne to a long list of food scandals. A litany that already includes mad cow disease, salmonella in eggs, antibiotics-resistant superbugs, etc..
Consumers feel betrayed.
Do we really know how our food is produced? Can we ever know what is in the food we eat? Are farmers and food producers to be trusted?
Today’s scandal of horse meat in beef products is likely the tip of the iceberg. There are real and deep-rooted problems sitting below the surface of our broken food system. And the bottom line is that we clearly, all too often, just don’t know what’s in our food or how it’s produced.
Beef lasagne products removed from supermarket shelves have been found to be almost entirely horse meat. The Food Standards Agency reports the product was produced by a French supplier.
Catherine Brown, chief executive of the Food Standards Agency, told BBC News: “This is an appalling situation. I have to say that the two cases of gross contamination that we see here indicates that it is highly likely there has been criminal and fraudulent activity involved”.
She added: “We are demanding that food businesses conduct authenticity tests on all beef products, such as beef burgers, meatballs and lasagne, and provide the results to the FSA. The tests will be for the presence of significant levels of horse meat”.
You’ve got to wonder why companies didn’t make damned sure the beef in their products wasn’t anything other than beef. And you’ve also got to wonder why they didn’t make sure horse meat wasn’t included in a product destined for the UK market. It’s breathtaking how Britain’s cultural taboo of eating horse meat has been held with such apparent contempt.
Over the last 18 months, I have been writing a book on industrial meat production with Sunday Times journalist, Isabel Oakeshott. We explored the tentacles that reach out across the world and affect the food on our plate. I discovered that there is just so much that goes on that we’re just not told about.
Regardless of what anyone eats, there is now a very serious need for real transparency in how our food is produced.
Compassion believes our food system must have real integrity. We need to absolutely know what it is that we are eating and how it was produced. And I don’t just mean for higher quality food products. We must value food quality over industrialised products, or at least be given the information to make a choice.
That is why we need to urgently revisit the issue of labelling. We’re calling for labelling on all animal produce and ingredients in the European Union. We want the labels to be simple and clear in conveying how the food was produced. Without it, there is little chance of consumers being able to properly exercise their right to choose; and very little hope of getting true transparency in our food system.
You should experience it in Germany. Fuels in children’s chocolate calenders. Infected meats, toxic vegetables. Cheeses that aren’t cheeses, beef that isn’t beef. Illegal geese being sold in the shops. Milks that are dangerous to drink. Fair trade that isn’t fair trade.
Labeling doesn’t work! Nor will it work. How would a label offer any guarantee? The member states couldn’t care less. The “Produced in the EU” label, is supposed to do just that. That is now used to hide the point of origin. Almost all of the meat products here, are from EE countries. Fish, is mostly from Spain, and West African states. According to the Label on the packaging…
There are almost 1 Billion of us in Europe. For real change to occur, every EU citizen would have to be made aware. I imagine gaining the attention of “Joe Bloggs” in a city street isn’t going to be easy. As you would first have to get through the religious, political, educational, language barriers first. As well as the spin. That’s a lot of tape to cut through! We would together have to boycott all 27 governments, all meat/fish producers and all high street food stores in Europe at the same time. And do so long enough, for the governments/stores to lose money.
It would actually be easier, and safer for us to produce locally again…