They called for more meat tests along the food chain in the wake of the scandal. Many voiced concern over member states’ level of commitment to enforcing the EU’s existing rules on labelling and urged the European Commission to step up controls. Their opinions echoed those of Environment Secretary Owen Paterson who previously said that mislabelling lies at the heart of the horse meat scandal and not the safety of the food.
However, some members did highlight concerns that horses could be treated with substances like the painkiller drug Phenilbutazone, which is banned from meat for human consumption.
“It is a vast fraud but we need to calm down on this,” said German MEP Peter Liese. “However,” he added, “I understand that consumers don’t want to be fooled into eating something they don’t want.” His advice was to improve enforcement of the existing legislation, reinforce tests and introduce DNA testing.
“What shocked most people was that after the BSE crisis the system was supposed to have brought in traceability,” added UK MEP Linda McAvan. She pointed out that rules on the labeling of meat products had been supported by the EP but then rejected by EU governments. Since then, “the system has failed. There have been several cases of fraud”.
“On traceability, we have the most developed legislation in the world,” said the European Commission’s director-general for health and consumers, Paola Testori Coggi, adding “Fraud was detected and the meat was traced. The system worked. The Commission has proposed a plan for increased controls including DNA tests on meat.”
On the subject of tackling ‘fraudulent labelling’, members called for tough penalties.
“For many people, eating horse is unacceptable. Imagine if it were pork,” said UK MEP Chris Davis. “Responsibility must rest with the food manufacturers. Where is the evidence that the checks have been carried out by the national authorities? Ideally, some effort should be made for common penalties at EU level.”
Carl Schlyter (Greens/EFA, SE) warned that “focusing on low prices increases the risk of fraud” and said meat-origin labelling would allow companies to build long-term links with their suppliers, thereby reducing the risk. Moreover, he believed, “the risk of penalties should be felt by the companies”. Ms Coggi replied that criminal sanctions were the responsibility of the member states and the EU could not legislate in this area.
“How do we stop people thinking of being dishonest and how do we sanction them,” asked Danish MEP Ana Rosbach. “I’d like to know where my meat comes from,” she added, also calling for improved labelling. Kartika Tamara Liotard, an MEP from the Netherlands, urged the Commission to be ”tough on member states that don’t apply the legislation,” adding “we simply need to know what’s in our food.”
“Food safety is a competence of the EU, but the UK had higher standards before,” said UK MEP Paul Nuttall. “We’re not ensuring that food is safe and we’re also labelling it incorrectly. In this case the meat traveled to five different countries. It is almost impossible to police,” he stressed, pleading for powers over food safety to be sent back to the member states.
