Meat traces in UK vegan food
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London, June 9: The British Food Standards Agency ( FSA) is probing allegations of pork and turkey traces in vegan and “meat free” foods on sale at two big supermarkets.
The probe was launched after laboratory tests were conducted by a prominent newspaper. Traces of pork were found in vegetarian meatballs on sale at Sainsbury’s while turkey traces were found in Tesco’s vegan macaroni ready meal.
The newspaper got the food tested at a German government accredited food testing laboratory.
The results found traces of pork DNA in Sainsbury’s own brand Meat Free Meatballs 380g, being sold at £ 1.50.
Traces of turkey DNA were found in Tesco’s Wicked Kitchen BBQ Butternut Mac 385g ready meal, being sold for £ 4.
The laboratory told the newspaper that the presence of animal DNA indicated that a dish contains meat or animal skin.
The Sainsbury’s product was approved by the Vegetarian Society, which means it has been independently checked.
However, supermarkets said their own tests have not found meat traces.
A spokesperson from Sainsbury’s said the products were produced at a “meat- free factory” and added that the supermarket and the Vegetarian Society also carry out regular checks and found no issues. However, they promised to carry out a comprehensive investigation along with their supplier.
A Tesco spokesperson they took the quality and integrity of their products very seriously and understood that their vegan and vegetarian products should be exactly that. They claimed the initial DNA tests found no traces of animal DNA in the BBQ Butternut Mac product available in stores on Saturday.