Meat found in vegan ready meals
Food watchdog opens investigation into contaminated products sold in supermarkets
THE Food Standards Agency opened an inquiry last night after a Daily Telegraph investigation found traces of meat in vegetarian and vegan meals sold by leading supermarkets. Laboratory tests found traces of pork in Sainsbury’s own brand “meat-free” meatballs and traces of turkey in a vegan macaroni ready meal from Tesco’s new Wicked Kitchen line.
Jewish and Muslim groups have said that consumers would be “distressed” to discover they may have inadvertently eaten pork, and have demanded the immediate recall of affected items. The Food Standards Agency said it was investigating The Telegraph’s findings.
Supermarkets are expanding their meat-free ranges, with official figures estimating the number of vegetarians or vegans at between one and two million. A recent survey by comparethemarket.com suggested the number of vegans had rocketed to 3.5million in the past two years.
The meatball product from Sainsbury’s has been awarded the Vegetarian Society logo, which is highly trusted by vegans and vegetarians as it is thought to show that products have been subject to strict controls, including prevention of cross contamination with animal products. Tesco has admitted that the dish from its Wicked Kitchen range, which it launched in January, is made in a factory that handles meat, but added that “strict controls” were in place.
The presence of whole animal DNA indicates that a dish contains meat or animal skin, the laboratory said, with an outside chance it could be present in gelatine or oil – substances that should not be present in vegan dishes.
The disclosure will raise concerns about the manufacturing processes used by contractors that supply some of Britain’s biggest supermarkets.
It could mean that millions of consumers who avoid eating foods that contain – or have come into contact with – meat for moral, religious or health reasons may have inadvertently done so because the products were labelled as meat-free.
Tony Lewis, head of policy at the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, said consumers would be appalled. “I would have expected Sainsbury’s to have high standards, so if they have a problem you have to question who else has a problem. Other retailers will likely be using the same factory and could also be affected,” he said. “If you’re starting to find stuff in food that shouldn’t be there, the question is what else is in there? This is potentially a much wider issue.
“Consumers who have eaten these products will be appalled because they will have bought them in good faith.”
Animal rights groups said the findings would come as a “massive shock”
to many consumers, urging manufacturers to re-examine their processes.
A spokesman at Peta, a vegan group that has previously endorsed Tesco’s Wicked Kitchen range, said: “These findings will come as a massive shock to many – including, we suspect, those producing the food. As the demand for vegan meats skyrockets, we urge manufacturers to improve their line cleaning practices.”
The Muslim Council of Britain said: “It is distressing for vegetarian and vegan consumers to learn that they may have consumed food products labelled as suitable for their use that have been shown to contain animal DNA. We hope that the FSA will implement the recall procedure urgently and carry out a thorough investigation of what appears to be a contravention of the Trades Description Act.”
A spokesman for Kosher London Beth Din, Europe’s largest kosher agency, said: “It is disappointing to hear that pork was found in a supposed vegetarian product – and this news will understandably be worrying for people who do not wish to eat any type of meat.”
According to UK food regulations, any foodstuff that is labelled as vegan must not contain any products of animal slaughter.
The Food Safety Act of 1990 states that labelling or advertising of food in a way that falsely describes, advertises or presents food in a way that misleads as to its nature, substance or quality, is an offence punishable by potentially unlimited fines and a two-year prison sentence.
This newspaper sent a number of samples to a German governmentaccredited food testing laboratory after British organisations said they could not carry out the tests, with one refusing because of the “sensitive nature” of the inquiry. The laboratory results showed traces of pork DNA in Sainsbury’s own brand Meat Free Meatballs (380g), which retail at £1.50. The meatballs are listed on Sainsbury’s list of items suitable for vegans.
The test results also found traces of
‘These findings will come as a massive shock to many – including, we suspect, those producing the food’
turkey DNA in Tesco’s Wicked Kitchen BBQ Butternut Mac (385g) ready meal, which is labelled as being vegan and retails at £4. The Telegraph was asked to share its findings with the Food Standards Agency. Trading Standards branches have also been contacted.
An FSA spokesman said: “Our priority is to ensure consumers can be confident that the food they eat is safe and is what it says it is. We are investigating the circumstances surrounding these alleged incidents and any resulting action will depend upon the evidence found.” Sainsbury’s has opened its own investigation with its supplier to determine the source of the pork DNA, but declined to reveal the name of the company or its location.
A Sainsbury’s spokesman said: “These products are produced at a meat-free factory. Sainsbury’s and the Vegetarian Society also carry out regular checks and no issues have been found. We are concerned by these findings, however, and are carrying out a comprehensive investigation alongside our supplier.”
A spokesman for Tesco said: “We take the quality and integrity of our products extremely seriously and understand that our vegan and vegetarian products should be exactly that.
“Our initial DNA tests have found no traces of animal DNA in the BBQ butternut Mac product available in stores today.” The spokesman added that no turkey had been handled at the manufacturer’s site, which it also declined to name.
Lynne Elliot, chief executive of the Vegetarian Society, said: “We have stringent criteria that any product must meet in order to display one of our trademarks.
“It is the producers’ responsibility to ensure that production processes are followed and to reduce as far as possible the chance of human error in the unlikely event of a mistake happening.”