Food Business News - February 26, 2013 - 11

Horse meat fraud spreads throughout Europe
Authorities in the United Kingdom have begun testing nearly all types
of products that include beef as an ingredient for horse D.N.A.

Continued from Page 1
European Parliament’s public health and
food safety committee after a meeting on
Feb. 18 regarding the scandal. The committee members stopped short of calling
for additional legislation, but also called
on European Union member states to
better respect existing rules on labeling
and to better collaborate on traceability.
Several experts told the committee at
the meeting that despite the public outcry, the issue, as it stands, is not related
to food safety.
“It’s a fraud issue and it is misleading the consumer but up to now, it’s not
a food safety issue,” said Url Bernhard,
director of risk assessment and scientific
assessment at the European Food Safety
Authority.
Paola Testori Coggi, of the European

Commission’s director-general for health
and consumers, added, “On traceability,
we have the most developed legislation
in the world. Fraud was detected and the
meat was traced. The system worked.
The commission has proposed a plan for
increased controls, including D.N.A. tests
on meat.”
The F.S.A. instituted a sweeping testing
program of beef products on Feb. 19 to
ensure product authenticity. The survey
includes a total of 514 products and will
take place in three phases. Products to be
sampled include all beef-based foods that
are sold pre-packed or loose, such as cafe
sandwiches.
Phase one will focus on minced beef
products, including burgers, sausage or
meat balls and will be checked for both
horse and pork D.N.A. Phase two will
include beef-based ready meals such
as lasagna, chili con carne, ravioli, etc.
Phase three will include products labeled as containing beef as a major ingredient, such as kebabs with seasoning.
Products such as gelatin, beef drippings,
stock cubes, steak, stewing steak and
ready meals that contain beef that is not
minced also will be included in the testing regimen.
The F.S.A. said it will publish the results from all three phases of the study,
including brand names. The F.S.A. will
disclose any formal action taken against
a company or companies in April.
Nestle S.A., Vevey, Switzerland, said
it was recalling three beef products sold

General Mills test marketing Bfast breakfast beverage
BOCA RATON, FLA. — General Mills,
Inc. is looking to extend its portfolio of
breakfast products with the test marketing of Bfast, a shelf-stable liquid breakfast drink for consumers on the go. The
company discussed the new product during the Consumer Analyst Group
of New York conference that took
place last week in Boca Raton.
“It is a milk-based product with
the nutrition of a breakfast cereal,”
Ian Friendly, chief operating officer of U.S. Retail for General Mills,
Minneapolis, told Food Business
News. “Which is, as we define cereal: vitamin nutrition, whole grains

February 26, 2013

and fiber, and it’s pretty low calorie, too.”
Mr. Friendly said Bfast is analogous to
a product sold in Australia called Up&Go
and manufactured by a company called
Sanitarium. Up&Go is a liquid nutrition
beverage, but Sanitarium has extended the
product platform to include a reducedsugar variety, a high protein variety
and an on-the-go breakfast yogurt.
“We’re excited about it,” Mr.
Friendly said. “We think it helps on
breakfast on the go. You could argue our grain snacks business has
grown dramatically satisfying that
consumer niche and so we already
have a sense about that need.” FBN

throughout Europe on Feb. 18. Two of
the products were sold in Italy and Spain
under the Buitoni brand and were labeled
as beef ravioli and beef tortellini. The
third product is a frozen lasagna that was
sold through the company’s Nestle Professional business unit. Company testing
found the presence of horse D.N.A. in
all three products at levels above the 1%
threshold established by the F.S.A.
Nestle said the beef had been supplied
by a German company, H.J. Schypke, a
subcontractor for JBS Toledo N.V. Nestle
has “suspended” all deliveries from Schypke.
JBS Toledo is a business unit of JBS
S.A., Sao Paulo, Brazil, one of the world’s
largest meat processors. In a statement,
JBS S.A. sought to distance itself from its
relationship with H.J. Schypke.
“To add flexibility and a just-in-time
service to some of its European clients
and as a precaution against possible future legal, trade or sanitary barriers, JBS
Toledo developed in conjunction with
its customer base alternative lines of additional supply from European sources,”
said Jeremiah O’Callaghan, investor relations director for JBS. “JBS Toledo’s
clients actively participated in the selection process, auditing and approving
prospective European suppliers. In this
specific case, from the outset of supply,
all operational and logistical processes
were carried out by the German supplier
who delivered the product to the final
client.”
Mr. O’Callaghan said JBS Toledo has
suspended all contracts with H.J. Schypke and said the business unit will not
market European meat until “confidence
is restored in the European beef supply
chain.”
Nestle said it will enhance its existing quality assurance program in Europe
by adding tests on beef for horse D.N.A.
prior to production. FBN

Correction
There is $80 billion in seafood sold in
the United States each year, according
to the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention’s
(USP) Food Fraud Database. A story appearing on Page 11 of the Jan. 29 issue
of Food Business News listed an incorrect amount. FBN

FOODBUSINESS NEWS

Food Business News - February 26, 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Business News - February 26, 2013