Register

To receive our newsletter, click below…

Poll

Heather Woodward - Senior Enforcement Officer

Fighting Meat Fraud in Gloucestershire

25th June 2007, 3:32pm

Food Enforcement Officers from Gloucestershire Trading Standards Service are very concerned about the recent spate of intelligence they have received regarding false claims being deliberately made about the origin of meat on sale throughout the county.

Food fraud is big business in the UK with the Food Standards Agency estimating that approximately 10% of our weekly shop may be counterfeit. Major food fraud can be damaging to consumer confidence and the reputation of the food industry and with approximately 40% of beef coming into this country from outside the UK, there is plenty of scope to deceive.

Have you ever considered that perhaps some of the food you buy is not what it claims to be? Was that Scotch prime beef burger you had in your local restaurant really Argentinean? Was that prime local joint of beef being sold at your local butchers really local or from thousands of miles away? South American beef sells at around £5 per kilogram compared to Scotch beef that can fetch five times that amount, so we are asking both consumers and business to be extra vigilant and aware of this potential fraud.

Each year Trading Standards carry out thorough inspections of food businesses to ensure that the products being sold are safe and that customers are getting exactly what they pay for. Verifying claims being made by farmers, manufacturers and caterers are therefore very high on the priority list and the Service intends to step up operations over the next few months by carrying out spot checks on beef sold within the county to ensure consumers are getting what they pay for. Efforts will be focused on:

Imported beef being labelled as British

· False menu descriptions in butchers, pubs, restaurants and cafes

· False paperwork or lack of required records being used to prevent proper checks from being carried out in businesses

· Document checks to verify claims being made are truthful

· Organic claims on food that cannot be substantiated

Businesses in the county are being asked to help the Service clamp down on unscrupulous traders who are deliberately trying to flout the law and mislead the public and would welcome information from traders and consumers who have doubts over the descriptions of any meat that they have purchased recently.

Falsely describing food can be in breach of a range of different legislation including the Trade Descriptions Act, the Food Safety Act and the Fraud Act.

Click here to submit a comment!

Have your say!

To comment on this article, simply enter your name and email and send us your views. Please note that your comment will appear publicly below this article once it has been processed. For enquiries please email info@costsectorcatering.co.uk.