The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is the national authority responsible for food safety and food hygiene across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The FSA ensures that official controls and legislation for meat safety and traceability are met by deploying staff in every slaughterhouse. The FSA also conducts risk-based, intelligence driven surveillance to monitor food safety and authenticity. It also has a National Food Crime Unit to prevent, detect and investigate food crime.

The Government recognises the importance of improving equine traceability. Defra is engaging with industry to consider improvements to this.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) issues Export Health Certificates (EHCs) for animals and products of animal origin exported to non-EU countries. In 2019, APHA did not issue any EHCs for the export of horse meat to non-EU countries.

APHA is not able to provide any data regarding the quantity of horse meat exported from the UK to the EU in 2019. Data for such trade is currently drawn from EU systems based on movements of animals to the EU that require an Intra-Trade Animal Health Certificate (ITAHC). An ITAHC was not required for movements of meat between the UK and the rest of the EU in 2019.

The City of London Police investigation into how food products became adulterated with horsemeat led to three men being charged with fraud offences on 26 August 2016.

The charges follow a complex international criminal investigation that saw the City of London Police, which is the National Policing Lead for Fraud, working in partnership with the Food Standards Agency and Crown Prosecution Service, as well as law enforcement agencies from across the United Kingdom and Europe.

The Food Standards Agency advise that no prosecutions have taken place in the United Kingdom as a result of horsemeat being sold as beef in the last five years. Investigations and prosecutions are on-going in a number of related cases.

Following the horsemeat fraud incident the Government commissioned Professor Chris Elliott, of Queen’s University Belfast, to carry out an independent review into the Integrity and Assurance of Food Supply Networks. This was not an inquiry into the horsemeat fraud itself but a much wider review of the issues which impact on consumer confidence in the authenticity of their food.

Professor Elliott’s Review was published on 4 September 2014 and sets out a systems approach to improve the food supply chain. The integrity of our food and empowering consumers to make informed choices are central to this Government’s vision of a competitive, resilient and growing UK food and farming sector. This is an important issue and it is only right that upon her appointment on 15 July 2014 the Secretary of State gave Professor Elliott’s final report the time and consideration it deserved before its publication. The report was published when Parliament returned after recess.

On 4 June 2013 the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced that Professor Chris Elliott would lead an independent review of Britain’s food system in light of the horsemeat fraud. The ‘Review into the Integrity and Assurance of Food Supply Networks’ focused on consumer confidence in the authenticity of all food products and any weaknesses in food supply networks which could have implications for food safety and public health. The review started in June 2013 and the final report was published on 4 September 2014.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) continues to develop its capability in relation to food fraud, in response to recommendations made in the reviews of the horsemeat incident, working closely with other Government Departments, enforcement agencies, local authorities and industry to detect and deter food fraud. The FSA is building an intelligence gathering network to increase the opportunity to capture and act on intelligence which may be indicative of future risks, as well as producing strategic and tactical assessments to share with relevant enforcement agencies, particularly through the Government Agency Intelligence Network.

The Food Standards Agency and the City of London police, working with their counterparts across Europe, are taking forward complicated and far-reaching investigations into the Europe wide horsemeat fraud. The Crown Prosecution Service has announced that criminal proceedings have been instituted for the mislabelling of goat meat and the failure to comply with traceability requirements in relation to horsemeat. It would not be appropriate to comment further on ongoing criminal investigations.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) advises that police investigations are on-going and decisions on prosecution are for the Crown Prosecution Service. The FSA does not have information on the numbers of businesses being investigated as that is an operational matter for the police. The FSA is not able to confirm how many businesses have closed as a direct result of horsemeat because the reasons for closure are varied and a direct correlation between horsemeat and businesses closing cannot be made.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) advise a decision has not been taken so there has been no communication.

The decision to take forward prosecutions rests with the police and prosecuting authorities not the Government. Investigations into possible criminal activity on horsemeat are ongoing in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe. Progress has been made which has led to arrests in both the UK and in other member states. The City of London police is leading the criminal investigation into the incident. It is not appropriate to comment on the detail of these investigations. This is a criminal investigation and as such details will not appear in the public domain as the investigation proceeds.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) set up a United Kingdom-wide sampling programme of beef products in early 2013, initially in two phases. Products were tested for both horse and pig DNA and, where this was found, further analysis was carried out for phenylbutazone. Recommendation 2013/99/EU established a European Union-wide co-ordinated control plan, in which member states were asked to test certain foods marketed and/or labelled as containing beef for the presence of horse DNA. These sampling requests were incorporated into the UK survey as a third phase.

The FSA has met the cost of sampling and analysis and a contribution of £50 towards the costs of sample purchase and handling for food samples. The combined costs of sampling and testing for horse DNA and phenylbutazone residues in the various phases:

Phase 1—£113,800 (224 samples collected)

Phase 2—£73,800 (140 samples collected)

Phase 3—£33,300 (150 samples collected)

(Costs for phases 1 and 2 include testing for pig DNA. Costs for phase 3 include the partial reimbursement from the EU to cover the costs of the horse DNA tests carried out under Recommendation 2013/99/EU).

In addition to the above sampling, the Agency's National Coordinated Food Sampling Grants Programme for 2013-14 includes a priority for meat authenticity samples and an additional £700,000 was made available to support this.

The combined costs for sampling horse carcases and testing for phenylbutazone residues from January 2013 to the end of November 2013, since the 100% sampling regime was introduced, and which the FSA has met are £700,800. A proportion of these costs were reimbursed by the EU under Recommendation 2013/99/EU for testing carried out as part of the EU wide survey.

Following the horsemeat fraud there was a widespread programme of testing beef products for horse DNA that included both local authorities and industry. The UK Government was instrumental in prompting action at a European level including the Europe wide testing of products and has pressed successfully for a second round of Europe wide testing in 2014.

The Food Labelling Regulations 1996 and the Food Information to consumers Regulation (EC) 1169/2011 require that the labelling of foods is not misleading. The penalty for breach of the Food Labelling Regulations is a fine at level five on the standard scale.

Stronger legal remedies for serious criminal fraud are available under the Fraud Act. The Government recognised very early in the incident that there was likely to be complex international criminal activity involved, which is why the UK police, the Serious Organised Crime Agency and Europol were contacted at an early stage in the incident and the Food Standards Agency and the police have been working jointly since February. Investigations are ongoing.