Hansard

I want to update Parliament on recent developments with regard to horsemeat and food fraud.

As a result of the revelation of horsemeat being found in mislabelled processed beef products in Europe, consumer confidence has been severely dented and shockwaves have been sent through the food industry. It is wholly unacceptable that consumers have been buying products labelled beef that turn out to contain horsemeat, and the mislabelling of food products through deliberate and illegal meat substitution will not be tolerated. It is the clear responsibility of those who supply and sell food to ensure that consumers are not misled, and Europe’s food industry now faces the massive challenge of rebuilding trust in its products. At least a dozen countries are now affected and, as exemplified by last night’s announcement from Nestlé, it is likely that there will be further revelations across Europe in the coming weeks and months.

That is why the Scottish Government has been calling for strong action at a European level. That is now happening, with European Governments, enforcement authorities, food industries and agencies taking the necessary action to get to the bottom of the issue. It is important to note that, in Scotland, there is no slaughtering of horses for human consumption, and no food manufacturing firm has been implicated in the horsemeat scandal and illegal substitution of meat. Indeed, all the evidence points to the affected meat originating from outwith Scotland.

It is also important to note that, to date, this is an issue of food fraud with no evidence of any implications for human health. The Food Standards Agency in Scotland and the Scottish Government are acting to prevent horsemeat from entering our food chain and to reassure consumers. As Parliament will be aware, even though it remains part of the United Kingdom FSA, the agency in Scotland answers to Scottish ministers and is responsible for food labelling. South of the border, Whitehall hived off aspects of labelling and standards to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

After being notified on 14 January by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland of its survey of horse and pig DNA in frozen burgers, the FSA put in place an action plan across the UK. The Tesco product in question had been on sale throughout the UK, including Scotland. Two plants in the Republic of Ireland and one in England were implicated in the survey, and the affected retailers immediately withdrew potentially affected products from sale.

Parliament will also be aware that as part of the investigation products have been withdrawn due to trace crossover of pork, for instance, into beef products. Although that is more likely a result of poor practice rather than fraudulent behaviour, it remains an issue that the industry must take very seriously.

Three strands of horsemeat surveillance, one of which was initiated in Scotland, are now under way. The first is a robust UK-wide authenticity survey, with 28 local authorities taking samples of beef products from all parts of the food chain. Two councils in Scotland are participating in that survey, the results of which will be published in March.

Secondly, local authorities are carrying out inspection visits to all Scotland’s 229 approved meat-processing premises and 29 cold stores. I asked the FSA to instigate those inspections on 24 January. We were the first part of the UK to do that. Sixty per cent of the inspections have already started, and to date 47 per cent have been completed. No issues to cause concern have been detected. The vast majority of the remainder of the inspections are due to be completed by the end of this week, and the whole exercise will be completed by next Friday.

Thirdly, the FSA instructed the food industry to test all processed beef products for the presence of horse DNA and to share the results with it. Last Friday, across the UK, the food industry published the first set of results. Some 2,501 results were published, and 2,472 of them—almost 99 per cent—were negative for the presence of horse DNA at or above the level of 1 per cent. The FSA will publish a further update this coming Friday. No new products were affected. All the positive results related to seven products that have already been reported and, where appropriate, action has been taken to remove relevant products from sale and to notify consumers.

Of course, there have been further product withdrawals since Friday. Where products have been found to contain horse DNA, they have been tested for the presence of the veterinary drug phenylbutazone, which is known as bute. All the tests on food for that drug have come back negative so far. Since 30 January, the FSA has been testing 100 per cent of horse carcases for bute.

I repeat: there is no horsemeat processing in Scotland. Bute is not allowed to enter the food chain, but in the unlikely event that people have eaten products that contain contaminated horsemeat, the risk of damage to health is very low. The chief medical officer for Scotland, Sir Harry Burns, has said that the samples found were

“still at a level many hundred times lower than those previously used in humans on a daily basis.”

We have also taken steps to check that no horsemeat is present in the food that is provided to our schools, hospitals and prisons. Assurances have been sought from all those who supply food to the public sector in Scotland. Significant testing and tracing are going on throughout public sector providers, and that is also happening throughout those who sell or manufacture food in the UK generally.

To date, there is no evidence of horsemeat in public sector catering in Scotland. Sustainably produced food and drink is a high priority for Scotland, and food and drink contracts are awarded in a way that balances price and quality before they are awarded. It is not necessarily the lowest price that wins; quality is vital in the public sector. We should all take that on board.

As well as taking those immediate actions, we are, of course, turning our attention to the future. Others must do that as well. Rules on the composition and labelling of foods are, in the main, set at a European level. Due to that strong European component, I have asked for a meeting with the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy, Commissioner Borg, to stress the need for safe and effective controls being available to us at a national level. In the meantime, at last week’s meeting—which happened at last—of EU ministers, ministers finally set out plans to accelerate further labelling measures.

The enforcement of European legislation is within the competence of the Scottish Parliament, but a strong and strategic voice in Europe is, of course, needed to co-ordinate action across the whole of Europe. I have long argued for a stronger UK line on labelling in European negotiations, and over the years I have written to the secretaries of state Hilary Benn and Caroline Spelman to press for quicker action and stronger legislation. I will continue to raise those issues with current DEFRA ministers. Indeed, I have been in regular contact with ministerial colleagues in England, Wales and Northern Ireland over the past few weeks, and I have also discussed the issue numerous times with retailers and the food industry and, of course, with Scotland’s farmers and primary producers.

Yesterday, I was in London with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Owen Paterson, and met the chief executives of most of the major retailers and the food service sector in the UK. Tomorrow, I will host another industry stakeholder meeting in Edinburgh with the Minister for Public Health, Michael Matheson, with whom I have been working very closely in recent weeks. The minister is also taking forward our proposal for a stand-alone food standards body in Scotland. The consultation on the new body is imminent, and ministers are currently considering the implications for that process of the horsemeat scandal. The minister is seeking the opportunity to make a statement in Parliament next week to update members. I can also inform members that the minister will establish an expert group to advise on any changes that are required to the FSA in Scotland ahead of the creation of the new body.

No matter how far we go, legislation and enforcement are only a small part of the picture. Responsibility lies with those who produce, manufacture and sell food. There is a clear need for the food sector to restore consumer confidence. Given the greater awareness that exists of the complexity of food supply chains, which is causing much concern, it is clear that the people of Scotland are now taking an even closer interest in where the food on their plate comes from.

There is clear evidence that people are looking for provenance and the Scotch brand, which is associated with traceability and quality. Some butchers report that sales have gone up by more than a fifth since the crisis started, and meat-processing companies in Scotland are reporting an increase in orders for Scotch beef. I urge consumers to seek out the Scotch label.

Although we cannot be complacent on enforcement and strong standards in this country, we must do all that we can to promote and protect our world-renowned Scotch brands, particularly beef. Fortunately, we do not have the complex and sometimes murky web of supply chains that stretches across Europe. We have farmers with traceability systems for their meat through the Scotch label. That is why many customers are realising that they can trust the Scotch label when they buy meat.

I urge our retailers to shorten supply chains and to source closer to home. We must be ready to do that. I will announce another expert group to advise on how we can take forward the Scottish food industry’s work on traceability and provenance. In addition, I am asking Quality Meat Scotland to explore how we can extend the principles behind the Scotch label and assurance schemes to the processing sector in Scotland. To strengthen the Scotch label and boost consumer confidence, last week I announced £1 million for developing new markets for beef, lamb and pork, and the marketing of the Scotch brands.

Consumers need to be confident that food is what it says on the label. When the issue first came to light in Ireland, the Scottish Government and the FSA in Scotland took urgent action and swiftly implemented additional inspections in meat-processing plants. Scotland was the first part of the UK to order those tests, which complement the new EU-wide testing regime that was agreed following a meeting in Brussels last week.

The horsemeat scandal has undermined consumer trust in some parts of the food industry, but it might be a watershed moment in how people think about food, which could end up being a good thing. There is an absolute need for every step of the food chain to take responsibility for the food that it produces and to ensure that Scottish consumers can have total confidence that what they buy is what it says on the label.