The Farmers Mart Aug/Sep 2013 - Issue 29 | Page 17

BUTCHERY

Butchers back campaign for market-sourced meat
A campaign to promote meat that has been sourced from British livestock markets has received the backing of butchers and their customers. The Livestock Auctioneers’ Association produced a poster for butchers to display in their shop windows to promote marketsourced meat and to reassure their customers about traceability. Customers expect to know where the meat has come from, and butchers report that the poster campaign is reassuring them, especially in the wake of the horse meat supermarket scandal which caused a large increase in trade for local butchers. Chris Dodds, Executive Secretary of the LAA, said there had been a very positive response throughout the country from butchers who sourced their meat from the markets. “The LAA wants to make sure consumers are aware that the markets are a reliable source of good value, high quality meat, and that in supporting butchers and wholesalers who source from the market, they are supporting

local farmers and the rural economy as a whole,” he said. “The market system ensures a fair price for both buyer and vendor, with trained staff and high standards of hygiene.”

FSA statement on TB risk from meat
The Food Standards Agency is highlighting its meat inspection process following reports in the media about TB risks from meat. The Agency’s meat hygiene inspectors check all meat before it enters the food chain to make sure it is fit for people to eat. Where inspection reveals any lesions caused by TB in more than one organ or region of a carcass, it is declared unfit for human consumption and destroyed. When a TB lesion has been found in the lymph nodes of only one organ or part of the carcass, that organ or part of the carcass and the associated lymph nodes are removed and destroyed. The remaining meat is considered safe to enter the food chain. The FSA says it is confident that the inspection systems in place are robust, otherwise they would not allow this meat into the food chain. According to the European Food Safety Authority, the risk of anyone catching bovine TB through eating meat is ‘negligible’. When people do contract bovine TB, it is usually through drinking unpasteurised milk or through prolonged contact with an infected animal. This view is supported by the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food (ACMSF), the independent panel of experts that advises the Agency in this area, following its own risk assessment in 2010. In addition, there is no documented case where a person has caught TB through eating meat.

‘Catching bovine TB through eating meat is ‘negligble’

FUW slams Tesco beef labelling plans
Tesco’s proposals to introduce an “Irish-born, British-finished” label will add to consumer confusion at a time when UK retailers should be seeking to clarify labelling and source more British born and reared produce, says FUW. According to media reports, beef from cattle imported from Ireland for fattening in the UK could be labelled “Irish-born, British-finished” in order to circumvent current labelling rules and allow a country flag to be placed on the label. “Apart from undermining UK farmers and the UK market in general, the plans would simply add to existing confusion over food labelling and undermine consumer confidence which has already been severely dented by the horsemeat scandal,” said FUW Denbighshire county chairman Iwan Jones. Mr Jones said the FUW had written to Tesco’s chief executive Philip Clarke highlighting its concerns and warned other supermarkets not to follow suit.

“We sincerely hope that Tesco will not proceed with this plan, as it could be extremely damaging, and we would warn other supermarkets against considering similar approaches.”

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FarmersMart Aug/Sep 2013

17