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Health fears grow as mountains of meat are smuggled into the UK
Jamie Doward, home affairs editor
Sunday June 10, 2007
The Observer
The amount of illegal meat entering Britain may be far higher than previously thought, increasing concerns about contamination of the food chain.
New figures disclosed by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) show the amount seized by customs and local authority environmental health teams has risen by almost 600 per cent in the last six years. Defra minister Ben Bradshaw said 104 tons of illegal meat was seized last year, compared with 18.6 tons in 2001.
Previously the government's Veterinary Laboratories Agency had estimated that an average 12,000 tons of meat enters Britain illegally each year, carried in by passengers travelling through ferry terminals and airports, via mail and hidden in containers on sea tankers. But the sixfold rise in seizures suggests the true figure could be dramatically higher.
Defra has increased funding to tackle the problem, amid concerns that infected produce could enter the food chain. The move was prompted by concerns that the foot-and-mouth outbreak of 2001, which cost the taxpayer ?8bn, was a result of contaminated meat imported in pigswill. At Heathrow airport alone there are now four teams of customs officials dedicated to detecting illegal meat.
The illegal meat trade in Britain takes many forms. Much of it is smuggled in from Eastern Europe and China. Some of it is in the form of 'smokies', the blowtorched carcasses of sheep or goats which are a West African delicacy. Around 2 per cent of the illegal imports is bushmeat - exotic meat such as zebra, ant-eater or monkey - which is highly prized among Afro-Caribbean communities.
A spokeswoman for Revenue and Customs said around half of all meat seizures made by its officials were from passengers smuggling food into Britain in suitcases. Often the meat is hidden in pillows or under clothing. One popular ploy is to stuff large bamboo shoots with meat and seal them at both ends with mud. She said: 'Some of the smuggling is just down to ignorance. For example, people bringing in beef jerky from America. It's illegal but many people don't know it. But it's often down to economics. A T-bone steak can cost anything between ?40 and ?50 in Britain but in West Africa it will cost just ?3.'
Concerns have increased amid revelations the European Union is considering allowing the remains of animals to be used as farm feed for the first time since the BSE crisis.
The Observer has learnt from one senior trading standards officer that poultry smuggled in from Egypt, where avian flu was confirmed last year, is on sale at markets across London. Dr Yunes Teinaz, acting environmental health manager for the London borough of Hackney, said much of the trade was carried out by criminal gangs: 'It's a very big black-market industry with highly lucrative rewards. You just need ?400 to buy an old van and you can go around the country distributing illegal meat.'
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2099731,00.html
Jamie Doward, home affairs editor
Sunday June 10, 2007
The Observer
The amount of illegal meat entering Britain may be far higher than previously thought, increasing concerns about contamination of the food chain.
New figures disclosed by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) show the amount seized by customs and local authority environmental health teams has risen by almost 600 per cent in the last six years. Defra minister Ben Bradshaw said 104 tons of illegal meat was seized last year, compared with 18.6 tons in 2001.
Previously the government's Veterinary Laboratories Agency had estimated that an average 12,000 tons of meat enters Britain illegally each year, carried in by passengers travelling through ferry terminals and airports, via mail and hidden in containers on sea tankers. But the sixfold rise in seizures suggests the true figure could be dramatically higher.
Defra has increased funding to tackle the problem, amid concerns that infected produce could enter the food chain. The move was prompted by concerns that the foot-and-mouth outbreak of 2001, which cost the taxpayer ?8bn, was a result of contaminated meat imported in pigswill. At Heathrow airport alone there are now four teams of customs officials dedicated to detecting illegal meat.
The illegal meat trade in Britain takes many forms. Much of it is smuggled in from Eastern Europe and China. Some of it is in the form of 'smokies', the blowtorched carcasses of sheep or goats which are a West African delicacy. Around 2 per cent of the illegal imports is bushmeat - exotic meat such as zebra, ant-eater or monkey - which is highly prized among Afro-Caribbean communities.
A spokeswoman for Revenue and Customs said around half of all meat seizures made by its officials were from passengers smuggling food into Britain in suitcases. Often the meat is hidden in pillows or under clothing. One popular ploy is to stuff large bamboo shoots with meat and seal them at both ends with mud. She said: 'Some of the smuggling is just down to ignorance. For example, people bringing in beef jerky from America. It's illegal but many people don't know it. But it's often down to economics. A T-bone steak can cost anything between ?40 and ?50 in Britain but in West Africa it will cost just ?3.'
Concerns have increased amid revelations the European Union is considering allowing the remains of animals to be used as farm feed for the first time since the BSE crisis.
The Observer has learnt from one senior trading standards officer that poultry smuggled in from Egypt, where avian flu was confirmed last year, is on sale at markets across London. Dr Yunes Teinaz, acting environmental health manager for the London borough of Hackney, said much of the trade was carried out by criminal gangs: 'It's a very big black-market industry with highly lucrative rewards. You just need ?400 to buy an old van and you can go around the country distributing illegal meat.'
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2099731,00.html
