A committee of MPs tasked with investigating the 'horsemeat' scandal which began in Ireland and spread across Europe at the beginning of the year has blamed "a lack of clarity about the role of the Food Standards Agency" for shortcomings in the official response to the situation, which seriously dented consumer confidence in the UK's largest retailers and meat processors.

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In February, burgers produced for a range of supermarkets in Ireland and the UK and sold as being 100 percent beef were found to contain horse and pig meat by the Food Standards Agency of Ireland. In the weeks after FSAI's discovery, many more cases of 'contamination' were discovered, and repercussions were felt up and down the supply chain.

Although at the time the government and food industry, backed by the UK's major farming groups, claimed the scandal was principally a mislabelling issue and the result of the unscrupulous dealings of 'a few bad apples', food policy experts argued that it exposed the shortcomings of the current food system, and described the widespread fraud as "a normal accident… inevitable because it is inherent in system design."

Government should reconsider changes to FSA

Announcing the results of the EFRA committee's investigation into the scandal, Committee Chair, Anne McIntosh MP said confusion over the FSA's position had delayed an effective response to the crisis. She urged the government to reverse changes to FSA's remit.

Conservative MP McIntosh said, "The Committee agrees that Ministers must be responsible for policy, but there was confusion about where responsibility lay for responding to the horse meat discovery. We urge the Government to reconsider the machinery of government changes it made in 2010 and make the FSA one step removed from the Government departments it reports to.”

In their Food Contamination report, the EFRA MPs said they were concerned that no prosecutions have yet been brought as a result of the debacle, despite clear evidence of organised fraud in the meat supply chain, stretching right across Europe. Ms McIntosh added, "The evidence suggests a complex network of companies trading in and mislabelling beef or beef products which is fraudulent and illegal. We are dismayed at the slow pace of investigations and seek assurances that prosecutions will be mounted where there is evidence of fraud or illegality."

The committee added that consumer confidence in frozen and processed meats, which was hit severely by the revelations, has yet to recover, though supermarket chains implicated in the scandal appear to have fared better. Nevertheless, the committee chair said that retailers and meat processors have a responsibility to be vigilant against cases of adulteration and fraud, which February's meat scandal revealed were commonplace and widespread.

EFRA ministers also pushed for DNA testing regimes, launched in response to the consumer confidence crisis, to continue on all frozen meat products. Ms McIntosh commented that "Consumers need to know that what they buy is what the label says it is."

EFRA identified issues with bute

Although much ado was made about the possibility of bute contamination when it was revealed horse carcasses from central Europe were present in burgers being sold in the UK, the only incidences of contamination with the banned horse drug over the course of the scandal were found in carcasses being exported from the UK to France. The Committee said it was "surprised by the comparatively large number of horse carcasses from the UK which tested positive for… bute."

MPs called for a new system for testing horses for bute before they are released into the food chain, which would be funded by government and industry.

Anne McIntosh concluded on Tuesday that, although FSA performance must improve in light of the shortcomings revealed by the horsemeat scandal, the agency should be awarded more powers to rein in industry's excesses. She said, "The FSA must become a more efficient and effective regulator and be seen to be independent of industry. It must have the power to be able to compel industry to carry out tests when needed. It must also be more innovative in its testing regime and vigilant in ensuring every local authority carries out regular food sampling."

The recommendations made by the committee are as follows:

• The Food Standards Agency must be a more effective regulator of industry and be given powers to compel industry to carry out food testing when needed;
• Large retailers must carry out regular DNA testing of meat ingredients for frozen and processed meat products, with the costs borne by industry and not consumers;
• All test results must be submitted to the FSA and a summary published on the retailers’ website;
• The present system for issuing horse passports must change and a single national database be established in all EU Member States;
• The FSA should have powers to ensure all local authorities carry out some food sampling each year;
• Local authorities should adopt targeted sampling—testing from time to time products which might be contaminated without requiring intelligence to support it;
• The Government should ensure there are sufficient, properly trained public analysts in the UK;
• There should be better communication about the role of the FSA so that there is no uncertainty in future about who is responsible for responding to similar incidents;
• The FSA should ensure channels of communication with devolved administrations and its EU counter parts are open and encourage sharing of information.