Leading Belgian retailers have withdrawn beef products from a factory under investigation by the country's food safety authority days after a similar scare erupted in the UK.
Belgian food inspectors have ordered the recall of burgers from a beef processor supplying leading supermarkets.
ADVERTISEMENT
Belgium’s Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain has shut down a beef processing plant and a cold store and ordered the recall of burgers and oxtail products because of “a potential risk to consumers”.
Some 20 food safety inspectors and 41 police officers raided the site operated by Veviba in Bastogne two weeks ago.
The agency reported that “old” deep-frozen meat was changed into “young” meat by falsifying the date of freezing.
ADVERTISEMENT
Inspectors also found that meat unfit for human consumption was still being sold. This included minced beef that had been in contact with the knife used to cut the throats of cows.
The factory has lost its licence and its burgers and oxtail, which were sold only in Belgium, have been fully recalled, authorities said.
Review
The Belgian scare comes as UK food safety authorities are conducting a review of all meat-cutting plants.
This follows investigations into alleged breaches of regulations at the British meat processors, Russell Hume and 2 Sisters Food Group.
This content is available to digital subscribers and loyalty code users only. Sign in to your account, use the code or subscribe to get unlimited access.
However, if you would like to share the information in this article, you may use the headline, summary and link below:
Title: Date label and knife swaps in Belgian beef scare
Leading Belgian retailers have withdrawn beef products from a factory under investigation by the country's food safety authority days after a similar scare erupted in the UK.
The reader loyalty code gives you full access to the site from when you enter it until the following Wednesday at 9pm. Find your unique code on the back page of Irish Country Living every week.
CODE ACCEPTED
You have full access to the site until next Wednesday at 9pm.
CODE NOT VALID
Please try again or contact support.
Belgium’s Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain has shut down a beef processing plant and a cold store and ordered the recall of burgers and oxtail products because of “a potential risk to consumers”.
Some 20 food safety inspectors and 41 police officers raided the site operated by Veviba in Bastogne two weeks ago.
The agency reported that “old” deep-frozen meat was changed into “young” meat by falsifying the date of freezing.
Inspectors also found that meat unfit for human consumption was still being sold. This included minced beef that had been in contact with the knife used to cut the throats of cows.
The factory has lost its licence and its burgers and oxtail, which were sold only in Belgium, have been fully recalled, authorities said.
Review
The Belgian scare comes as UK food safety authorities are conducting a review of all meat-cutting plants.
This follows investigations into alleged breaches of regulations at the British meat processors, Russell Hume and 2 Sisters Food Group.
If you would like to speak to a member of our team, please call us on 01-4199525.
Link sent to your email address
We have sent an email to your address. Please click on the link in this email to reset your password. If you can't find it in your inbox, please check your spam folder. If you can't find the email, please call us on 01-4199525.
ENTER YOUR LOYALTY CODE:
The reader loyalty code gives you full access to the site from when you enter it until the following Wednesday at 9pm. Find your unique code on the back page of Irish Country Living every week.
SHARING OPTIONS