Transcript

ORE ODUBA

Now then there’s is a food scandal which has spread right across Europe. After horse meat was found in Findus lasagnas last week, France and Sweden have now joined the UK in withdrawing some meat products from their shelves. The government here says it doesn’t believe there’s any threat to human health. It’s due to give more details on developments later this afternoon. But what does this scandal tell us about the food we eat, where it comes from, and how it gets here?

BBC NEWS REPORTER

Horse meat found in burgers sold in British and Irish supermarkets.

ORE ODUBA

It’s the food scandal that’s been going off for a month. And, since traces of horse DNA were found in burgers back in January, things got more serious when some Findus lasagnas sold here were found to contain up to 100% horse meat. From farm to plate, our food often takes a long and complicated journey through many different countries, which explains some reasons behind how the food was contaminated.

This is what’s thought to have happened here. Findus is a Swedish company, but the meals were made for them by a French food supplier – not in France, but at a factory in Luxembourg. The meat in the meals was bought from a Cypriot trader. That trader bought it from the Netherlands, but it’s suspected the meat came from slaughterhouses in Romania. The authorities there are still investigating.

Despite pressure to do so, there are no plans at the moment to ban meat imports from the EU, as the government says there’s currently no risk to human health.

OWEN PATERSON

All the evidence of the products so far is that they are safe, but they’re not as labelled. So this is a case of fraud and mislabeling. There is nothing we’ve seen so far which represents a health threat.

ORE ODUBA

Later today, Owen Paterson will update MPs on the latest developments in the scandal spreading across Europe.

PRESENTER 2

Our main news this morning – a year on from the horse scandal, it’s emerged that many local authorities across the UK are failing to carry out basic food-safety checks.

PRESENTER 3

A study by the consumer organisation Which? has found that, in some areas, councils hadn’t carried out any hygiene tests on food served in places like restaurants, schools, and hospitals. The government says an independent review is underway to improve food safety.

PRESENTER 2

Well, Professor Christopher Elliott, the director of the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University, is leading the review. And he joins us from our Belfast studio now. Professor, thanks very much for joining us. If your job is to undertake a wide-ranging review of the supply train and try and ensure that our food is presumably safer in future, it must be alarming to you to discover that many local authorities aren’t carrying out basic checks on food hygiene in places where the public go to eat.

CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT

Yeah. I think the first important thing to start off with is to say that the food supply systems in the UK are very safe. Compared with other parts of the world, we’re one of the safest food supply systems in the world. But I think what the Which? report is indicating very clearly that, because of the pressures that are on local authorities in relation to budget cuts, they are finding it very difficult to deliver the quality of service that is required.

PRESENTER 2

A year on since the scandal broke, what’s changed?

CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT

There’s been a massive effort, both by the UK food industry and the UK government, to put in place measures that will stop these types of food crimes happening again.

PRESENTER 2

For instance?

CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT

The amount of checking of products, particularly testing by the multiple retailers, is actually performed now at an enormous scale, whereas previously a lot of the supplies of materials was done on paper-based audits and basically trust. That trust is now converted into much more rigour of the materials that they buy.

PRESENTER 2

Every day of the week, though, there are about 25,000 different foodstuffs sold. So, looking for things may be unsafe or wrong is like looking for a needle in a haystack, isn’t it?

CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT

The point you make is a very good one. 25,000 products, different products, sold each day in the UK retail sector, so it’s an enormous task, making sure that that material is safe and authentic. And what is happening now, both in industry and government, is those types of food materials which are most vulnerable to fraud are getting the highest level of attention. Obviously it started off with red meat, but there are many, many other food commodities now that must be checked regularly to make sure that what we are buying as consumers is actually what it says on the label.

PRESENTER 2

So, can people today who are buying processed-meat products, ready meals, that sort of thing, the sort of things that were in the spotlight a year ago as containing horse DNA – can consumers be confident that what they are buying now is safe to eat?

CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT

Certainly, I think we can all be much more confident now than a year ago. It was very clear that, a year ago, that there was very little rigour was put into the system to check authenticity of foodstuffs. And what I have called for in my report is a complete change in culture, not only in the food industry but in regulators, to make sure that what we buy as consumers is genuine.

PRESENTER 2

All right, Professor Chris Elliott, thanks very much.