British meat company Loscoe Chilled Foods has confirmed that the company is under investigation over allegations that meat from South America and Europe was mislabelled as British.
On Friday (March 10) it was revealed that the National Food Crimes Unit, part of the government’s Food Standards Agency (FSA), was investigating how a UK retailer received misbranded goods. prepackaged sliced meat and deli products in 2021.
The NFCU did not name the retailer in question, but it later emerged that it was Booths, the privately owned supermarket chain based in the northwest of England.
The retailer said it had removed the products in question and stopped trading with the manufacturer when it was made aware of the claims.
Booths said he is “categorically not under investigation by the NFCU.”
Loscoe Chilled Foods, based in Derbyshire in the English Midlands, is now known to be the manufacturer at the center of UK meat fraud allegations.
In a statement sent to just foodA company spokesperson said: “We are currently supporting the Food Standards Agency with an investigation into an isolated issue relating to sliced corned beef supplied to a single customer in March 2021. This is not a safety issue. food and there is no suggestion that any other customer is affected. However, we take this very seriously and fully support the FSA with their work.”
Loscoe, whose roots date back to 1895, has two sites spanning more than 102,000 square feet.
On its website, it says: “We offer our customers an unprecedented level of service and quality. Our core range of cooked ham and bacon products has seen the business grow to supplying over 100 metric tons of pork per week to the UK food chain.
“We serve the nation’s largest food service companies and big box retailers. Working with a wide range of ready and convenience food manufacturers, our products are consumed by hundreds of thousands of hungry Britons every day.”
The FSA is investigating whether this is a case of innocent mislabelling or food fraud.
In a statement sent to just food Last week, Andrew Quinn, deputy director of the NFCU, said: “The FSA’s National Food Crime Unit is investigating how a UK retailer was supplied with pre-packaged sliced meat and charcuterie products labeled as British when in fact they came from from South America and Europe.
“The retailer was notified the same day that we took action against the suspected fraud food business and immediately removed all affected products from its shelves. The retailer continues to work closely and cooperatively with the NFCU investigation to advance the case against the supplier. This is not a food safety issue, but a food fraud issue.”
He BBC said the investigation, codenamed “Operation Falcon,” was made public in December by the FSA.
