European Consumer Organisation BEUC has published a new report, which reveals that meat products marketed across the European Union often carry dishonest labels.
The BEUC report findings, which are based on tests conducted by seven member organizations, reveals that meat-based foods may not be offering customers what the label states.
Tests were carried out by BEUC member organizations through April 2014 and August 2015. Their analysis, which was conducted on a range of meat-based foods, was intended to check labels, ingredients and the presence of undeclared allergens and illegal food additives.
The findings revealed that in most cases, the product names were confusing; products carried incomplete labels which did not declare all the ingredients of the content or which failed to disclose the percentage of meat present in the product; use of unlawful additives; undeclared use of mechanically-separated meat; and use of substitutes deceitfully.
BEUC's Director General Monique Goyens said: "Consumers should be able to trust the label on the food they buy. If we are serious about rebuilding confidence in meat, EU Member States need to beef up controls and make sure labels are complete and accurate.
"Those purchasing fresh beef made to look as if it is 100% meat may feel deceived to discover additives in the ingredient list. Also, consumers buying roast pork or grilled sausages should know from the label how much meat they really contain. No one wants to buy water for the price of meat."
The organization suggested that following the 2013 horsemeat scandal, European consumers must be willing and able to trust the labels on the meat they purchase. In order to ensure that the food companies adhere to the EU food laws, the BEUC recommends that there be more frequent and systematic checks on labels to guarantee their completeness and accuracy.
It also suggests that the EU member states put more focus on controlling the kind and amount of food additives used and that they place eradication of food fraud as top priority. Currently, the EU proposal on Official Controls is under discussion within the Council and European Parliament. The BEUC feels that the proposal must create an effective legal framework to enable better detection, discouragement and punishment for fraud.
BEUC also stated in its recommendations that meat preparation definitions should be clearly specified so that grey areas, which allow devious businesses to bend EU laws, can be removed.
Image: Meat products mislabeling to be tackled. Photo: Courtesy of BEUC The European Consumer Organisation.
