Meat products: Labels are sometimes misleading

Sale on the French market of horse meat used in pharmaceutical research, English tuberculous beef exported to France, these food scandals have been in the news for the past two years. Faced with these successive episodes, always the same question: are we facing a simple fraud or are there also health issues? These deceptions still worry consumers. There is something.

Deliberate mistakes

Based on tests carried out by 7 member organizations of the European Bureau of Consumers’ Unions (BEUC) in recent months, the Federation concludes that products containing meat sold on the Old Continent “do not always meet consumer expectations, and this when the labels do not deliberately mislead”.
Deception takes various forms. It could be just playing on the denomination. For example, in Belgium, the designation “prepared American fillet” is reserved for products containing only beef or horse meat, but so-called “chef-prepared” products contain pork, notes BEUC.

Inaccurate labels

Another anomaly noted by these consumers, the labels are sometimes imprecise. This is particularly the case when they do not specify the quantity of meat contained in a product, or indicate a false quantity. It is common for water or other ingredients to replace meat, the Bureau said.
The Dutch association Consumentenbond, a member of BEUC, suggests that the European Union’s definition of the term “meat” may play a role.
Indeed, according to this definition, up to 30% fat and 25% collagen can be counted as meat, in addition to muscle.

The problem of the presence of additives

Another problem of semantics for consumer associations: the difference made by the European authorities between “meat products” and “meat preparations”. Used to make certain foods more tasty, additives are suspected of disturbing the balance of the intestinal flora. Thus, they may be more numerous in products than in preparations, according to European regulations. But in reality, the line between the two is blurred. While sulfites and phosphates are prohibited in most ground meat preparations, they are permitted in the UK in “burger meat” and “breakfast sausage” specialties.

Moreover, labeling problems can lead consumers to deceive the quality of the meat. Without specifying a “mechanically separated” meat, he can unknowingly eat the remains left on the carcass of an animal after the main cutting, notes BEUC.

Chicken in lamb?

More serious perhaps, tests have revealed that sometimes the meat is not what presented. In April 2014, one year after the horse meat scandal, the British association Which? reported that in 40% of the take-out cases tested in London and Birmingham, lamb meat had been contaminated with beef or chicken.
“EU member states must increase their controls and ensure that labels are complete and accurate”, thinks Monique Goyens, director general of BEUC, in comments reported by Agence France Presse (AFP).
The office also calls for foresight from consumers. “Read the labels! Producers have their pockets full of schemes, ”Camille Perrin, also a member of BEUC, concluded with AFP.