Brussels, 22/04/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European Union wants to carry out random Europe-wide testing to detect possible cases of food fraud, following the scandal involving ready-made meals labelled as containing beef but which actually contained horsemeat.
The principle of such tests was approved on Friday 19 April by the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health. The European Commission had put forward recommendations supporting this, which was approved by member states. Carrying out random tests seeks to provide as big a deterrent effect as possible.
The idea would be to introduce random testing across the EU for three weeks to a month on a given product, to establish whether it contained DNA traces of a food not mentioned on the labelling. However, technical problems still need to be overcome, particularly with regard to costs.
The Committee met on Friday to examine the findings of the tests carried out in 27 EU countries following the horsemeat scandal (see EUROPE 10828). These tests revealed that almost one food product in 20 tested in Europe contained horsemeat. The level was almost three times as high in France, which scored the highest positive testing of this product in their controls.
The Commission agreed to co-funding (out of the Community budget) 150 tests in each member state. Each test costs €400.
The Commission would also like to toughen up the financial penalties in the event of food fraud. A proposal will be put forward in the next few months.
The horsemeat scandal has spread throughout Europe since hamburgers containing horsemeat were discovered in the middle of January in Ireland and the United Kingdom. It subsequently provoked the withdrawal of millions of ready-made meals from supermarket shelves and sales plummeted after a huge fall in consumer confidence in these products. (LC/transl.fl)