When news broke in January that the Food Safety Authority of Ireland had found traces of horse DNA in batches of beef burgers being sold in Ireland and the United Kingdom, it was thought to be no more than an embarrassing but isolated mistake in a single supply chain. Nobody saw the pan-European scandal that would quickly ensue, dragging in dozens of retailers, manufacturers, foodservice and fast-food restaurant operators.
In line with the large-scale panic testing now in place, new horsemeat-tainted discoveries are being found on an almost daily basis across Europe and beyond, and for the time being it’s impossible for authorities to ascertain exactly how far the fraud goes. Nevertheless, many consumers across Europe, Scandinavia and Russia are thinking twice before putting processed meat products and ready-to-eat meals containing meat in their shopping baskets.
“Horsegate,” as it is now widely referred, has been a welcome boon for fresh meat sales at traditional independent butchers as well as at unaffected retailers like Sainsbury’s, which reports a 3.1 percent rise in same-store sales for the 10 weeks through 16 March.
I think most customers are quite aware that a good number of retailers have not had horsemeat in their food and [those stores] been rewarded with some extra business,” remarks Justin King, Sainsbury’s chief executive.
Click here to read the full story that ran in the May issue of SeaFood Business >
