By Simon Wright – Follow
me on Twitter @Siwri88
Earlier this
week was the first anniversary since one of the biggest crises developed in the
history of the food industry. It is fair to say that the horsemeat scandal
across the United Kingdom and Europe was bad news for many senior figures in
the food process – from those working on the production line to the senior
heads of supermarkets and food chains.
However as it
is now a year on, what lessons have been learnt? Do you care about what is
contained in your meal? Were supermarkets right to be blamed?
The short background
News of
horsemeat started to emerge on the 16 January 2013 and it was an issue first
highlighted in Ireland. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland said beefburgers
with traces of equine DNA, including one product classed as an astonishing 29
per cent horse were being supplied to subsidiaries of the ABP Food Group. This
included a food production line in Yorkshire. Whilst this was a concern, few
could have predicted the revelations that emerged in the days and weeks ahead.
A day later,
the ABP Food Group decided to investigate things further and closed their plant
in Ireland while the matter was looked into. Not taking chances, 10 million
burgers were pulled off the shelves by retailers including Iceland, Aldi, ASDA
and Tesco, whilst fast food chain Burger King switched suppliers to ensure they
weren’t dragged into the emerging mess.
Worse came in
early February when tests showed traces of horsemeat were now being found in
frozen lasagne and spaghetti meals. The Findus food group was now coming under
scrutiny with their beef lasagne product believed to be one of the meals that
had these disturbing traces. Again, the supermarkets reacted quickly and took
away these products from our shelves. A day later, the FSA revealed
a second case of “gross contamination” after some Findus UK beef lasagnes (pictured below), made
by Comigel, a French food supplier contained upto 100 per cent horsemeat.
Allegations of ‘criminal activity’ were made and more products from Comigel
were being removed across the UK. The likes of Aldi and Tesco moved quicker
than their counterparts, reacting almost as soon as they heard of possible
trouble.
 |
| Turns out there wasn't much beef in Findus' Lasagne range |
While David
Cameron labelled the scandal as “completely unacceptable,” there was little he
could do. After vigorous DNA testing, most cases had horsemeat down as just a
filler ingredient but when some products were mismanaged and called ‘beef’ when
they didn’t have any ‘beef’ in them, it damaged the creditability of many
leading companies in the food sector. Nearly every meat seller in Europe has
been affected, although it didn’t spread to a worldwide issue.
In May last
year, Willy Selten, a Dutch meat wholesaler was arrested after it was reported
he was selling 300 tonnes of horsemeat as beef. However only he and the
interim director of his company Willy Selten BV were arrested and prosecuted.
21 further people were arrested in the south of France as recently as last
month after consignments of horsemeat were seized but at the time of writing,
no prosecutions have been publicly made.
Should you care?
First and
foremost, it has been highlighted by several senior supermarket managers that
the ingredient of horsemeat is not harmful to health and many countries across
the globe actually eat it. However it is considered as a ‘taboo food’ in both
Ireland and the UK.
In the
aftermath of the scandal developing, some people were interviewed and were panicking
that they were going to be seriously ill. To date, there has been no proven
case of anyone dying after eating traces of horsemeat and as a consequence, the
whole story was blown totally out of proportion.
One thing
that the British public seems to do a lot is panic. It happens all the time if
there is a strike looming such as the petrol strike of 2000 or the devastating
foot and mouth crisis a year later which almost brought the farming and
agricultural sectors to its knees. A small amount of snow also leaves a high
proportion in a tailspin. There was a huge influence of media consumed news and
too many inaccurate opinions given in the days afterwards.
The horsemeat
scandal was not good for us to hear about and it was frankly appalling but it
wasn’t going to turn everyday lives upside down. All it meant was perhaps
taking more caution in what we digest as human beings. I know for a fact that I don’t
normally check ingredients contained in meals and that hasn’t changed (although
I have very limited cooking skills). Those who of course have supplements to
stick to or are perhaps restricted to what they eat due to gluten-free diets or
lactose-free diets should have been more concerned. It was this kind of thing
that might mean you don’t totally trust a packet that says ‘this has no traces
of wheat’ but it might actually have ‘wheat powder’ contained. This could make
an individual very ill and that is gross misconduct, no matter what way you
look at it.
What it did
show was the levels in trust between consumer and supermarket and consumer to
food chain were severely hit and possibly beyond repair. It was okay if you
weren’t directly affected like me but what if your favourite meal was Findus
Beef Lasagne when actually you were eating Findus Horse Lasagne. Poor
packaging, a lack of truth and appalling misinformation turned what could have
been something relatively minor into the biggest crisis in this country’s food production
since British beef exports were banned by many EU partners in 1996.
I think you
should care about what happened because it was quite disturbing, whether
affected or not. Even if you don’t want the full details, the majority of
people should have the basic ingredients knowledge of what they are eating on a
regular basis. Put it this way, you’d be extremely unhappy if the chicken burger
or spaghetti ready meal you were eating was actually a horse burger or a Cow Bolognese!
Did supermarkets react quickly enough?
Supermarkets
were caught right in the middle by what was happening. In some cases, they were
being directly blamed but unless the product was actually from their own
various ranges, it is difficult to accuse them of causing the horsemeat
scandal. The food is processed in the various food plants across Europe and is
probably packaged too before it arrives in the supermarkets up and down the
British Isles. The only thing you could blame them for is whether they reacted
quickly enough to the horsemeat scandal.
As soon as
food, especially the beef products mentioned was being tested and there was
confirmation of traces of DNA of horsemeat, the likes of Aldi and Tesco were
extremely quick in pulling the affected meals out of supermarkets. It could be
seen as a precautionary measure but then again, it won’t have been good if they
didn’t do anything. Other supermarkets and I won’t mention any names here were
much slower in reacting and by the time they had, it was too late in comparison
to their rivals.
The majority
of our big supermarket chains were affected in some form as products
disappeared. What it did suggest was that the lack of trust and knowledge
should be aimed more in an argument between food production versus consumer
rather than food seller versus consumer.
The top hierarchy
at these stores should have had better knowledge but it isn’t their fault. Some
areas of the media went for these guys and that was slightly unfair. The
supermarkets did what they could in a very tricky and difficult situation for
everyone.
Still in these
particular crisis stories, this is when social media can be at its best or even
its worse and Twitter was the best place to find out what people were thinking.
Below are three examples. Take your pick to decide what you thought was humorous
or below the belt;
Findus lasagne contains horse
meat. I'd check the spaghetti bologneighs as well.
Food scandal for vegetarians:
radish found to be up to 100% horseradish
What's the fuss? For years
we've been told that Ready Meals contain too much Salt and Shergar. #findus
What lessons have been learned?
A year on,
have lessons been learned from the fallout? That is open to debate. I feel that
the supermarkets have moved on and it sounds like their Christmas sales showed
marked improvements apart from Morrisons. The food production chains at those
affected such as Findus might not ever recover from these setbacks. It will be
a scar that will be with them at least in psychological form for a very long
time.
For the
consumer, it probably means we take a bit more time in supermarkets buying our
products in the weekly shop or via online if the hustle bustle of the crowds is
too much. Trust was broken, damage done but not something that can’t ever been
fixed.
The horsemeat
scandal of 2013 was a horrible story to hear about and a distasteful episode
for the food industry. With the lack of prosecutions and the way the story
disappeared from the newspapers, websites and bulletins after the end of
February last year, it is difficult to say much if lessons have been learned.
Hopefully, it will lead to more care and dedication taken to ensure that things
like this do not and will not happen again. The people accused of the ‘criminal
activity’ have to take the responsibility for their actions. It was bad but thankfully, didn't cause any deaths.
