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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/feb/12/food-standards-agency-horsemeat-tests
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| Horsemeat scandal: 'not enough labs in the world' for speedy tests | Horsemeat scandal: 'not enough labs in the world' for speedy tests |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| The results of tests being carried out on all processed beef products on sale in the UK, ordered by the Food Standards Agency and previously expected on Friday, will be incomplete and will not reveal whether any species other than horse is contaminating the UK food chain, the agency says. | The results of tests being carried out on all processed beef products on sale in the UK, ordered by the Food Standards Agency and previously expected on Friday, will be incomplete and will not reveal whether any species other than horse is contaminating the UK food chain, the agency says. |
| Supermarkets and branded manufacturers have been asked by the FSA to send all processed beef products to independent laboratories to be tested for contamination with horse meat, in the wake of positive test results on products including Findus lasagne and Tesco spaghetti bolognese. The FSA had pledged results would be published by this Friday but has since backtracked on that claim, saying only that those results available would be published that time. Asked whether the delay would be resolved in days rather than weeks, a spokeswoman for the agency remarked "While we can't give a specific timescale, I think it'll be longer than that." | Supermarkets and branded manufacturers have been asked by the FSA to send all processed beef products to independent laboratories to be tested for contamination with horse meat, in the wake of positive test results on products including Findus lasagne and Tesco spaghetti bolognese. The FSA had pledged results would be published by this Friday but has since backtracked on that claim, saying only that those results available would be published that time. Asked whether the delay would be resolved in days rather than weeks, a spokeswoman for the agency remarked "While we can't give a specific timescale, I think it'll be longer than that." |
| Speaking earlier this week, environment secretary Owen Paterson said he hoped for "meaningful results" from the tests by Friday, but experts warned the flood in the demand is slowing the process down, and may shed little light on food safety even when they are delivered. | Speaking earlier this week, environment secretary Owen Paterson said he hoped for "meaningful results" from the tests by Friday, but experts warned the flood in the demand is slowing the process down, and may shed little light on food safety even when they are delivered. |
| A source at one retailer said: "There are simply not enough labs in the world to get all the tests done that the FSA have asked for. We are trying to help, but it's just unrealistic." Another who attended the emergency meeting called by DEFRA into the horsemeat scandal added: "We told them [the Government] that it would be challenging to meet the deadline on Friday and they changed their position from wanting everything tested to just providing the results of tests we had already done." | A source at one retailer said: "There are simply not enough labs in the world to get all the tests done that the FSA have asked for. We are trying to help, but it's just unrealistic." Another who attended the emergency meeting called by DEFRA into the horsemeat scandal added: "We told them [the Government] that it would be challenging to meet the deadline on Friday and they changed their position from wanting everything tested to just providing the results of tests we had already done." |
| The process of determining which species of animals are contained in a given ready meal sample typically takes around a day, but with the sudden surge of products to test, turnaround is up to about three days, according to one laboratory involved in the current tests. | The process of determining which species of animals are contained in a given ready meal sample typically takes around a day, but with the sudden surge of products to test, turnaround is up to about three days, according to one laboratory involved in the current tests. |
| Research by the food and drink magazine The Grocer and analytics company BrandView has found more than 600 separate product lines in need of testing across just four of the major retailers – 150 branded lines and 433 own-brand products. As each product may require multiple samples in order to deliver a clean bill of health, this could represent a backlog of thousands of products across the country in need of testing. | Research by the food and drink magazine The Grocer and analytics company BrandView has found more than 600 separate product lines in need of testing across just four of the major retailers – 150 branded lines and 433 own-brand products. As each product may require multiple samples in order to deliver a clean bill of health, this could represent a backlog of thousands of products across the country in need of testing. |
| However, when results arrive, they may offer less comfort than consumers intend. Each separate species must be tested for separately: if you don't look for a particular animal's DNA, you won't know whether it is present or not. | However, when results arrive, they may offer less comfort than consumers intend. Each separate species must be tested for separately: if you don't look for a particular animal's DNA, you won't know whether it is present or not. |
| The FSA has only required the industry to look for traces of horse in beef products – so if the products were to contain lamb, pork, poultry or any other animal, this would not show in the results when they are published. | The FSA has only required the industry to look for traces of horse in beef products – so if the products were to contain lamb, pork, poultry or any other animal, this would not show in the results when they are published. |
| A spokeswoman for the agency said that was because checking for horse was the current top priority. The FSA is leaving it to the industry to decide how many samples of each product it should submit for testing, but is requiring that information to be shared alongside the results.A food safety expert also cautioned that the results, when published, will give no information on the quality of the meat contained in the products – or even whether it is meat at all. | A spokeswoman for the agency said that was because checking for horse was the current top priority. The FSA is leaving it to the industry to decide how many samples of each product it should submit for testing, but is requiring that information to be shared alongside the results.A food safety expert also cautioned that the results, when published, will give no information on the quality of the meat contained in the products – or even whether it is meat at all. |
| "This test tells you there is DNA from a particular animal in a sample," said Liz Moran, president of the Association of Public Analysts. "It doesn't tell you what part of the animal it is, or even whether it's meat rather than the worst case, ground-up horses' hooves. | "This test tells you there is DNA from a particular animal in a sample," said Liz Moran, president of the Association of Public Analysts. "It doesn't tell you what part of the animal it is, or even whether it's meat rather than the worst case, ground-up horses' hooves. |
| "There's no test that can tell you that once everything is ground up together. The only way they can do that is tracing everything back through the supply chain and finding the facilities involved." | "There's no test that can tell you that once everything is ground up together. The only way they can do that is tracing everything back through the supply chain and finding the facilities involved." |
| Moran added that checking for additional species increases the cost of testing, and so prior to the current scandal products would not normally be tested for horse DNA, but rather only for cow, lamb, pig and poultry, the animals expected to be found in the UK food chain. | Moran added that checking for additional species increases the cost of testing, and so prior to the current scandal products would not normally be tested for horse DNA, but rather only for cow, lamb, pig and poultry, the animals expected to be found in the UK food chain. |
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