Update: Booths Confirmed As UK Retailer Linked To Alleged Food Fraud Case
The UK’s National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) is investigating possible food fraud involving what the agency says was meat labeled British, but allegedly coming from South America and Europe.
Their investigation focuses on a group of supermarkets, but the NFCU, part of the UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA), does not name the retailer in question.
In a statement sent to just foodAndrew 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 items labeled British when in fact they came 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 added: “We take food fraud very seriously and are acting urgently to protect the consumer.”
Mystery surrounds the identity of the supermarket group in question. British broadcaster The BBC it said it had contacted Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Aldi, Lidl, The Co-op, Waitrose, Morrisons, Iceland and Marks and Spencer and all denied being the retailer that had received the meat.
The NFCU, which disclosed that items such as hamburgers and ground beef were not part of this investigation, said it would not provide further details as this could jeopardize the investigation and any future proceedings.
He BBC said the investigation, codenamed “Operation Falcon,” was made public in December by the FSA.
At the time, he said he was investigating the directors of a company that sold large volumes of prepackaged meat to UK supermarket retailers “who pride themselves on selling only British produce”, the broadcaster reported.
The opposition UK Labor Party was quoted by the Press Association saying there are “very serious questions to answer” about how a UK supermarket has become embroiled in a major meat fraud investigation.
This latest food investigation comes ten years after the UK’s horsemeat scandal, in which the meat was sold as beef in lasagne and processed products.
