Horsemeat fraud changes global meat trade

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Profound change is coming to the global meat trade because of the revelations of horsemeat replacing beef in ground meat products, suggests an opinion piece published in the Irish Times in April.

According to Allan Reilly, executive director of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, "Global standards for the trade in beef trim will become more stringent. It will no longer be the industry norm to purchase frozen beef blocks on face value. Laboratory testing for species authenticity will be commonplace. DNA testing of meat products will be standard for major retailers."

But another casualty will be the validity of what he calls "business-to-business assurance schemes." And then there is general competitiveness; the race to the bottom on price also eroded quality. The benefit to consumers is tighter rules and better quality food. BF