Horsemeat lessons ‘still to be learned’ one year on, says MP

Europe-wide investigations into the horsemeat scandal have yet to lead to prosecutions and last week, Professor Chris Elliott, author of the latest review into the integrity of food supply, told the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee (EFRA) that action was still required to prevent future contamination.

Speaking on the anniversary of the scandal yesterday, Anne McIntosh, chairman of the committee, said: “Five reports and 12 months later, this is a good time to take stock of the situation

“Retailers still need to work on smaller supply chains. By buying local we can more likely trace all sources of our food.”

Prof Elliott’s interim report was published last month and his final report is due in the spring. His initial findings highlight concerns over meat transportation, storage of meat slabs and a shortage of food analysts.

Meanwhile, the EFRA committee has called for those responsible for the horsemeat scandal to be identified and prosecuted to restore consumer confidence. It also wants the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to become more efficient and effective, and be seen as independent of industry.

Miss McIntosh, the MP for Thirsk, Malton and Filey, said: “The FSA must have the power to be able to compel industry to carry out tests when needed.

“It must also be more innovative in its testing regime and vigilant in ensuring every local authority carries out regular food sampling.”

The FSA says it is carrying out tests to check that products labelled as being from the UK are authentic.

It has introduced unannounced inspections of meat cutting plants and has increased to £2m its funding to local authorities to support their own testing programmes.