Tesco Burgers 60% Horsemeat

This situation is just unreal:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21418342

No SB it is very real, and not really unexpected when governments (and I include all governments for the last 15 years or so) have been intent on cutting government science staff and resources. That is only the analysis side. They have been cutting the side devoted to food product production for even longer. In the 1990s the Food Standard Agency did a lot of work, with the procedures available at the time, in analysing food products and developing methods of analysis. Work was done on olive oil , fish, orange juice, chocolate and to a certain extent on meat, though this was usually just checking the common meats (ie no pork in your halal burgers , and the right amount of the right meat in sausages.) A lot was found wrong in orange juice and to a lesser extent in some other products . Sometimes it was a genuine error (if you count as a genuine error something like a firm not realising that if you used the same pipework for different oild without thoroughly cleaning them out then oils were likely to be contaminated). However politicians views are that if they say something and wave their egos around then it is possible for it to be done , whatever the actual facts. Therefore the money and resources devoted to science was cut , adn i gather that little is done in house now. This leaves the external laboratories, either the few ex-government labs that survived by some sort of privatisation procedure or private labs. I think only Unilever and Cadbury (now Kraft) in this country have the facilities, or probably knowledge, to do anything much.I am not up to date with the current position but, as of about 8 years ago the private labs varied in quality of both equipment and the personel who analysed the results. It does not surprise me that it had been stated on the radio today that only a small proportion of the results of the tests which the government have demanded , will be available by the time they have asked. If you employ monkeys, politicians, accountants and moronic marketing men to control things, then you deserve the results you get

Quote: mikejee wrote in post #2

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No SB it is very real, and not really unexpected when governments (and I include all governments for the last 15 years or so) have been intent on cutting government science staff and resources. That is only the analysis side. They have been cutting the side devoted to food product production for even longer. In the 1990s the Food Standard Agency did a lot of work, with the procedures available at the time, in analysing food products and developing methods of analysis. Work was done on olive oil , fish, orange juice, chocolate and to a certain extent on meat, though this was usually just checking the common meats (ie no pork in your halal burgers , and the right amount of the right meat in sausages.) A lot was found wrong in orange juice and to a lesser extent in some other products . Sometimes it was a genuine error (if you count as a genuine error something like a firm not realising that if you used the same pipework for different oild without thoroughly cleaning them out then oils were likely to be contaminated). However politicians views are that if they say something and wave their egos around then it is possible for it to be done , whatever the actual facts. Therefore the money and resources devoted to science was cut , adn i gather that little is done in house now. This leaves the external laboratories, either the few ex-government labs that survived by some sort of privatisation procedure or private labs. I think only Unilever and Cadbury (now Kraft) in this country have the facilities, or probably knowledge, to do anything much.I am not up to date with the current position but, as of about 8 years ago the private labs varied in quality of both equipment and the personel who analysed the results. It does not surprise me that it had been stated on the radio today that only a small proportion of the results of the tests which the government have demanded , will be available by the time they have asked. If you employ monkeys, politicians, accountants and moronic marketing men to control things, then you deserve the results you get

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I have a question, why do inspectors always pre warn you when they are coming to inspect your premises? In 30 years in the cafe/restaurant trade my aunt never had one surprise inspection.

All inspection should be by surprise. I knew a Health and safety inspector who regularly sent out letters to industrial firms warning of a vist. Most of which he never made but he knew they would sort the place out anyway.

SB

I agree that all inspections should be surprise visit, but I don't think they ever are. The thing is though, how do they catch so many people out?

Just heard someone on the radio say that they were very careful about the meat they ate, always buying from the local butcher and only buying the occasional ready meal. The interviewer asked what sort of ready meal did they buy, and they said CURRY !! About the most risky i would have thought. I think local authorities do do real surprise inspections sometimes, but usually only when therer have been complaints/ deaths/ epidemics, or the local mayors wife has had the runs

Mike, if you order a Chicken curry then you are highly unlikely to get Horse.
Rat maybe, but not Horse. Enjoy.