It is considered “highly likely” that US fastfood giant McDonald’s was among the unsuspecting buyers of mislabelled beef products sold by Starzen.
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Japanese food industry experts said the problem could become exacerbated in coming weeks as more firms admit to malpractice. Late last week Starzen admitted relabelling cheap beef and pork products as premium cuts to gain premium prices. The fraud has been going on since summer 2000, so many of the country’s major meat buyers are likely to have fallen victim over the last 18 months.
With public confidence in the meat sector already running low since it emerged last month that Snow Brands had intentionally mislabelled meat products to benefit from government subsidies intended to help the sector recover from the impact of BSE, the latest news has further fuelled distrust.
McDonald’s has responded to the crisis by changing its menus to offer a greater range of non-beef meats. A report in the Independent on Sunday claims that the group is working closely with Sygen, a UK biotechnology company which uses DNA technology in an effort to breed the ‘Perfect Pig’. This would be an animal with immunity from certain diseases, and the ideal flavour when cooked.
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