Exclusive DNA testing by Which? has revealed shockingly high levels of adulteration in lamb takeaways: of 60 lamb takeaways in Birmingham and London, no fewer than 24 contained meat other than lamb and seven contained no lamb at all.
Which? executive director Richard Lloyd commented: “More than a year on from the horsemeat scandal, our research has uncovered shocking evidence of food fraud.
“The government, local authorities and the FSA need to make tackling food fraud a priority and take tougher action to crack down on the offenders. This is vital to restoring trust in the industry, which is not only good for consumers but good for businesses too.”
Local authorities to test for lamb meat substitution
The FSA has now announced an additional programme of priority testing of lamb dishes from takeaway restaurants across the UK following evidence of ongoing substitution of lamb for cheaper meats such as beef and chicken. Businesses could face prosecution and fines up to £5,000 if food is found to have been deliberately mislabelled.
30% of lamb takeaways contained other meat
An FSA review of local authority sampling data, from July to December 2013, found that 43 out of 145 samples of lamb takeaway meals contained meat other than lamb. In total, 25 of these samples were found to contain only beef. Other meat species identified included chicken and turkey. No samples were found to contain horse meat.
Priority testing of lamb takeaway dishes
In response to the ongoing concerns about lamb substitution, the FSA is starting a further round of priority testing of lamb takeaway dishes from businesses across the UK. Local authorities are being asked to test 300 samples from takeaway restaurants and report the findings to the FSA. Sampling will start at the beginning of May. The mislabelling of food can result in fines of up to £5,000.
Andrew Rhodes, Chief Operating Officer at the FSA, said: ‘Substitution of lamb for cheaper meats in takeaway food, as seen in our own data and the survey released today by Which? is unacceptable and we are working closely with local authorities to ensure robust action is taken against any businesses misleading their customers.
‘Prosecutions have taken place against business owners for mislabelling lamb dishes, but the recurring nature of the problem shows there needs to be a renewed effort to tackle this problem. Clearly the message isn’t getting through to some businesses.”
For further information on the Which? report click here