Riding through Europe
Would you like some horse with your burger?
The horse meat scandal is revealing the intricacies and complexities of the European food industry. When disconcerting discoveries were made in Ireland in November 2012 and finally the scandal erupted in the UK mid-January, no one expected it to blow up in such a dramatic way. Since then, three separate supply chains, 13 countries and 28 companies have become involved in one of the largest food crises since BSE. The scandal looks like it might even take an international turn, with products being removed from supermarkets in Hong Kong.
The finger pointing dance has begun. Suppliers in Romania are being accused by French companies of mislabelling their meat. Following the discovery of horse meat in school meals, the UK government and FSA are at a loss. 2,501 DNA tests were run by a watchdog and an investigation has begun to determine whether the government was warned about this two years ago. Financial pressures on the food industry to drive prices down, the impact of the economic crisis leading to horse owners sending their animals to slaughterhouses and selling the meat are all factors leading to the influx of horsemeat into the food chain. Ties between meat laundering, various trafficking operations and local mafia have also been uncovered in the fraudulent supply chains. Needless to say, this does not justify the scandal taking place, more so it begs the question of regulation.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) does not have much power. Reduced budgets and attempts to make the industry self-regulating means that standards are enforced by strained local authorities and the companies themselves.
European regulation only requires the distributors to know the origin of their product. Traceability here is not the issue, solely labelling. With products labelled as beef containing up to 100% horse meat and pig meat, there is a clear need to guarantee the veracity of the label displayed on supermarket shelves. With the guilty supply chains spanning up to five countries, it makes sense for regulation to be at a European level.
Calls for a form of European food standards and regulating agency have grown louder in the midst of the scandal. This would be complicated to put in place as all 27 countries will have to ratify the set of rules, and then again unanimously agree on any changes to come in the future. Even if an organisation were successfully created, it could rapidly be deadlocked into bureaucracy and negotiations. Integration is needed for such a body to function, a difficult decision for Europe and a choice the Coalition government is unlikely to make.
