Dr Pamela Yeow, Deputy Director of the Kent MBA comments on the BBC news article Horsemeat – food fraud, not food safety
Yet another scandal hits our shores, this time a horsemeat contamination scandal, featuring a complex and elaborate food chain that involves many countries, their food producers and food processors. Of course, it is not just about the illegality of horsemeat in the UK, but more significantly, it is about the trust, and trust failure that has resulted in consumers losing faith and trust in the supermarkets they shop at.
Many questions and pointing fingers of blame have arisen out of this scandal, including the government blaming the supermarkets for keeping consumers in the dark (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/9872391/Britains-biggest-supermarkets-hit-back-at-Cameron-over-horsemeat.html), some supermarkets blaming governments and local authorities for driving down prices for school meals (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9876179/Horse-meat-scandal-a-storm-in-a-teacup-says-Iceland-chief-as-he-accuses-schools-of-using-dodgy-backstreet-meat.html), and possibly even slavery in the long supply chain (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/9870692/Slavery-not-horse-meat-is-the-real-scandal-on-our-doorstep.html), where “If a Swedish company makes a lasagne by using French, Dutch and Cypriot firms to source Romanian meat via Luxembourg, then the supply chain is long enough to be corruptible”.
What has resulted from this scandal? It’s too early to say perhaps but initial reports have suggested a significant reduction in the number of people buying meat, (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/18/us-horsemeat-britain-survey-idUSBRE91H0GP20130218), and more people saying that they’ll buy less processed meat and ready-meals. Having said that, people are also saying that they could not afford to not buy these cheaper meals and meats. A large proportion of people surveyed have said they trusted supermarkets less and would want to buy their meats from their local butchers. Supermarkets and food manufacturers will have to work very hard to win back the support and trust from their consumers.
Supermarkets have been pretty quick off the mark to communicate the steps they have taken to ensure that they are complying with legislations and the Food Standards Agency. But is this enough for the consumers? Will we see a return to less ready-meals in the long run, shorter food chains where we know where the cow’s come from and how it’s ended up on our plate, or will this be a short term panic which might result in the temporary tightening up of laws and nothing more? We need to trust our supermarkets and food suppliers that we are buying and eating what it says on the label. The supermarkets and food suppliers need to help us get there.