Brazil’s reputation tainted by meat fraud case
Canadian producers could benefit from scandal,
After Europe’s horse meat scandal, Brazil, the largest exporter of meat products in the world, is now going through its own food fraud crisis. This time though, it seems federal authorities have been complicit. Recently, federal authorities in Brazil announced they would be investigating several companies, including meat packing giants JBS and BRF S.A. These companies are accused of bribing licensed inspectors to approve rotten meat products for international sale and export. Given that not only companies but also government are allegedly involved, this has the potential to become one of the worse food fraud scandals in modern times.
The investigation, dubbed Operation Weak Flesh, in fact began over two years ago, and is still not finished. More than 40 companies and several bureaucrats are involved. What a mess. This is a textbook case of economically motivated food adulteration. Various animal parts were used as substitutes for more expensive ingredients or products. Any suspicious smells were allegedly camouflaged through the use of acid, a food safety nightmare. It appears these products were delivered to schools, hospitals and other institutions. As we often see in food fraud cases, every company involved, including JBS and BRF S.A., is denying all allegations.
Brazilian meat product exports account for well over $14 billion and are distributed to many parts of the world, including Asia and Europe. With this scandal, that figure could decrease significantly. Given the current political and economic climate in Brazil, this could not have happened at a worse time.
The scandal will not only affect Brazil, but strikes yet another blow to the global livestock industry. It will give more ammunition to those opposing the industrialization of agriculture and the perceived undesirable role of agribusinesses. The sustainable and ethical nature of massive livestock production has been called into question by many for several years now. Increasingly, consumers in the industrialized world are reducing their intake of animal protein, particularly beef.
Nonetheless, firms in the agri-food sector do exist to make our food systems more efficient, and food more affordable. Society in general has benefited from the role of corporations in the sector, whether we realize or not. Had a proper regulatory framework been in place, this latest Brazilian scandal could, in all probability, have been prevented.
Ironically, JBS, one of the major companies implicated in the investigation, operates the same plant involved in the infamous XL Foods recall in 2012 in Brooks, Alta. At the time, Canadian inspectors were not diligent enough and were not asking the company to make proper changes, where they had been found in breach of federal regulations. Countless deferral cases for maintenance were given. Sound familiar?
We learned from the XL Foods incident and made changes to how we manage our inspection force. Interestingly though, JBS bought the plant while the recall investigation was ongoing. This speaks to the culture of the industry, driven by unmeasured egotism and pride. This is a pattern we can see repeated worldwide.
It took decades for Brazil to convince the world its meat products were worthy of consideration. Operation Weak Flesh, however, could destroy this reputation completely. This scandal has impelled a number of countries to call for sanctions of Brazilian meat products, with some already being implemented. Canada, as one of Brazil’s main competitors in the livestock industry, will likely gain from all of this. Canadian ranchers are very aware that they could reap benefits from Brazil’s controversy. But let’s hope arrogance won’t make our sector complacent again, as we witnessed with mad cow disease back in 2003. We must learn from what has happened in Brazil.
Our own livestock and meat scandals in Canada were a cakewalk compared to what is going on in Brazil right now. But with food fraud, given how complicated these cases can be, we can never be too careful.