Additional programme in place for priority testing of lamb dishes: FSA

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) announced an additional programme of the priority testing of lamb dishes from takeaway restaurants across the United Kingdom, following evidence of the ongoing substitution of lamb with cheaper meats such as beef and chicken. Businesses could face prosecution if the food is found to be deliberately mislabelled.

An FSA review of local authority sampling data, between July and December 2013, found that 43 out of 145 samples of lamb takeaway meals contained meats other than lamb. About 25 of these samples were found to contain only beef. The other meats identified included chicken and turkey. However, no samples were found to contain horse meat.

In response to the ongoing concerns about lamb substitution, FSA started a further round of priority testing of lamb takeaway dishes from eateries across the United Kingdom. Local authorities were asked to test 300 samples from takeaway restaurants and report the findings to the FSA. The sampling would commence at the beginning of May. The mislabelling of food could result in fines of upto £5,000.

The concerns identified in the local authority data were also reflected in a survey of lamb dishes from restaurants in Birmingham and London, which was released by the consumer organisation Which?, which purchased 60 lamb takeaways, 30 curries and 30 minced lamb kebabs. Of these, a total of 24 were found to be adulterated with beef and chicken.

Andrew Rhodes, chief operating officer, FSA, said, “The substitution of lamb for cheaper meats in takeaway food, as seen in our own data and the survey released by Which?, is unacceptable. We are working closely with local authorities to ensure robust action is taken against any businesses misleading their customers.”

“Prosecutions have taken place against business owners for mislabelling lamb dishes, but the recurring nature of the problem shows there needs to be a renewed effort to tackle it. Clearly the message is not getting through to some businesses. The further priority testing we announced would focus the efforts of enforcement officers and raise awareness amongst food businesses of the action they face for defrauding consumers,” he added.

Following the completion of the priority testing programme, authenticity testing of takeaway lamb dishes would continue as a part of local authority sampling programmes.