Since the horsemeat scandal of 2013, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) have been fighting the issue of authenticity when it comes to foods that our sold being sold as British. After reports of a non-British pork chop being sold as British meat in Tesco stores last year, the FSA will soon be beginning a study involving isotope technology on a number of samples.
FSA CEO Catherine Brown has said that the majority of the products tested will be those that are available at retail establishments. However, they will also be testing “a couple of burger businesses which claim British or UK provenance on their beef.”
A total of 100 samples will be taken over the next few months of beef, pork, lamb, honey, apple juice and tomatoes in order to establish their origin. The study will focus on foods where UK provenance is particularly important to consumers. The horsemeat scandal has meant that selling food that’s been sourced in the UK has become much more important to shoppers. However, this has raised the risk of non-British products being sold as British.
Brown added that although the results from isotope testing aren’t 100% “it can give you a steer” and will help the FSA work with retailers to investigate the origins of the food that they supply with a view to publishing a summary and ultimately a full list of everything tested.
