Sample food products examined by the West Yorkshire authorities were not what they claimed to be or were mislabelled, a new investigation reported by The Grocer has revealed. Up to 38% of 900 foodstuffs failed authenticity test: for example, testing revealed frozen prawns that were 50% water, beef mince adulterated with pork and poultry and, the worst thing, a supposed herbal tea containing neither herbs nor tea but a withdrawn prescripition drug for obesity at 13 times the normal dose. Many of the samples were collected from fast-food restaurants, independent retailers and wholesalers. «We are routinely finding problems with more than a third of samples», said the head of West Yorkshire Analytical Services, Duncan Campbell. The Government is trying to promote food authenticity after the horsemeat scandal last year, identifyng and preventing food fraud and mislabelling. The Food Standards Agency will soon start testing activity on a wide range of products, such as apple juice, beef, honey and tomatoes, to check if they are really sourced from Britain as they claim in their labels.
