It has emerged that the supermarket Booths is the retailer which has been caught up in a case of potential food fraud involving beef falsely labelled as British by a supplier.
The National Food Crime Unit which has law enforcement powers, is part of the Food Standards Agency, the UK’s food regulator is investigating how the chain was supplied with products labelled as British, when they were sourced from South America and Europe instead.
The unit is investigating the food business that supplied the products to Booths who are not under investigation.
The products in question were pre-packed sliced meats and deli products that were packaged as if they were from the UK, when they were actually from elsewhere in Europe and South America, the National Food Crime Unit said. The affected products did not include minced beef, burgers or steak.
The retailer prides itself on selling 100% British beef.
The National Food Crime Unit, has said: “The retailer was notified on the same day that we took action against the food business suspected of the fraud and immediately removed all affected products from their shelves.”
A statement issued by Booths said: “Booths’ support for the investigation relates to a limited selection of cooked meat products and Booths has no knowledge of any other aspects of the investigation.
At the point of being made aware of the potential issues in 2021 Booths acted instantly, removing all relevant products from sale and ceased trading with the supplier with immediate effect.
It is also important to note that while the NFCU investigation relates to a potential serious food fraud incident, this is not a food safety issue.”
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