Case Study 3.1 European Horsemeat Scandal – Network in disarray
The global headlines said it all: for several months during the first half of 2013, the whole of Europe
was rocked with the news that unapproved horsemeat had found its way into the food chain and onto
the shelves of the supermarkets. The media coverage was enormous. By July 2013, typing ‘horsemeat
scandal’ into Google produced over 228,000 hits, from news organizations, government agencies,
scientific authorities, food industry bodies, and not forgetting the almost obligatory Wikipedia entry.
The scandal broke in Ireland on 14 January 2013, when the Food Safety Authority of Ireland announced
the results of analyses of frozen beef burger samples it had tested in November 2012. The results
indicated that equine DNA was present in the samples from several major food supermarkets: Tesco,
Iceland, Aldi, Dunnes Stores and Lidl. The Tesco beef burgers, supplied by ABP Silvercrest in County
Monaghan, revealed as much as 29 per cent horsemeat. Two other factories were cited as providing
meat with lower levels of horse DNA: Dalepak in Yorkshire, UK, also owned by ABP, and Liffey Meats
in County Cavan, Ireland. It’s argued that the scandal knocked almost £300 million off Tesco’s market
value within 48 hours of the news breaking. This was a scandal that was going to run and run. In January
2019, two former managers of French meat-processing firm Spanghero and two Dutch meat traders were
put on trial in Paris, accused of using cheap horsemeat in beef products that were sold across Europe.
The four accused could face large fines and lengthy jail sentences if found guilty.
Of course, horses are slaughtered for their meat in parts of Europe and horsemeat is readily available
for sale in European markets. The issue wasn’t horsemeat per se. There was much confusion at first and
debates raged about whether it was a food safety issue or a breach of consumer trust, or both. Products
were recalled, food was taken off the shelves of the supermarkets, and food standards and safety
authorities set about trying to establish what had happened.
Ultimately, at issue on this occasion was the fact that the meat in the affected burgers and other products
was actually intended to be beef and should not have contained traces of any other animal product.
