Ensuring food is what it claims to be

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Carol Barnao

The unfolding meat scandal in the UK where horse meat has been sold as beef to unsuspecting customers shows the vital importance of having robust systems in place to ensure food is what it claims to be.

Consumers don’t want to be hoodwinked when it comes to what’s in their food – and they rightly deserve not to be. At the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) we work hard to ensure consumers get what they are promised.

Food production is the backbone of the New Zealand economy and over time this country has built up an international reputation as a trusted supplier of safe food. We have earned this enviable reputation because of the robust systems we have in place to ensure the food we produce is safe and suitable.

These systems were designed to ensure food is produced through appropriate processes using acceptable ingredients, is labelled correctly, and does not pose any food safety concerns from biological or chemical hazards.

In the case of meat, for example, we have put in place a number of checks and balances to ensure meat being processed is what it claims to be.

Our mandatory Species Verification Programme checks that the regulatory requirements which have been put in place to ensure truth in labelling with respect to species of origin are working.

Every year, MPI collect 300 samples of meat from randomly allocated cold stores all around New Zealand.

Each sample is tested for possible contamination by other species. For example, a sample of sheep meat will be tested first to confirm that it is sheep meat and then for contamination by cattle, deer, goat, horse and pig meat.

The test method used in the NZ programme identifies proteins unique to a species, and it is very sensitive with a level of detection of one percent contamination.

In light of the recent situation in the UK, MPI has also reviewed the data we have on beef products being imported from there. There is no evidence to indicate that the products implicated in the horse meat scandal have been imported into New Zealand. Further, our imports statistics show that we did not import any frozen, chilled or fresh beef or horsemeat from any EU member country in the past year.

If consumers lose confidence in the safety and suitability of the food on their plate, food producers inevitably suffer the consequences. According to a survey carried out by two British newspapers, almost a third of adult Britons have stopped eating readymeals – put off by frozen lasagnes and burger patties that illegally contained horse meat instead of beef – and seven percent say they have decided to stop eating meat altogether.

In the food safety arena the stakes are high, and we know that trust is hard won and can be easily lost. As horse meat scandal illustrates we must remain vigilant and act decisively where fraudulent or unsafe practices are uncovered.

Carol Barnao is a NZ FOODtechnology content partner and deputy director-general of the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Standards branch.

Before this, she was NZFSA director of the Assurances and Standards Group which provided assurances that New Zealand food and related products are safe and suitable to eat. Carol has a strong background in the dairy industry. Before joining MAF 12 years ago, she was for 18 years involved in the dairy industry. She has held various positions with the New Zealand Dairy Board. She is a food technologist and a fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology.

If you have questions for Ms Barnao or suggestions on areas of interest in her specialist area, email editor Steve Best at [email protected], reference Carol Barnao.

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