posted February 26, 2013 11:06 AM            

The tests by the University of Stellenbosch were planned before a scandal broke out in Europe over horsemeat labelled as beef that raised concerns worldwide over the risks to human health from a complex and nebulous meat supply chain.

"Our study confirms that the mislabelling of processed meats is commonplace in South Africa and not only violates food labelling regulations, but also poses economic, religious, ethical and health impacts," co-author Louw Hoffman of the university's Department of Animal Sciences, said in a statement.

Soya, donkey, goat, water buffalo and plant material were found in up to 68 percent of the 139 minced meats, burger patties, delicatessen meats, sausages and dried meats tested by the university. The items were not listed as ingredients.

Pork and chicken were the most common fillers found in products that were not supposed to contain them, according to the study that used DNA testing techniques and was published in the journal Food Control.

No similar discoveries had been made over the past two years, when DNA testing became more widely used in South Africa.

Stricter food labelling laws came into effect in the continent's largest economy in March last year, with mandatory information required on content, country of origin and allergens.

But there is no mandatory government testing of food sold in South Africa.

"It is a wake-up call for the industry to abide with the new labelling regulations," Hoffman, a noted game meat researcher, told Reuters.

posted February 28, 2013 11:27 AM            

Just joking

posted March 01, 2013 01:42 AM            

The last time :
EXCLUSIVE - Three parties, including the South African National Halal Authority (Sanha) returns to the Cape High Court on Thursday to apply for an urgent interim interdict against a local cold storage company whom it believes has been importing various products from different parts of the world and deliberately relabled it as halal. The story came to the attention of the SA Meat Industry Company (Samic) and the Red Meat Industry Forum late last week when an informant took video footage at the company. Sanha was subsequently drawn into the matter.

"Evidence came to our attention that the Orion Cold Storage Company in Cape Town has been importing pork products from Belgium and Ireland, relabelling them as halal sheep and veal products; importing kangaroo meat from Australia, relabelling it as halal beef products; importing poultry from Spain, relabelling them as halal; importing dairy powder for animal feed from Canada and relabelling it as halal skim milk powder," Sanha's Maulana Saeed Navlakhi told VOC's Open Lines on Wednesday.

According to the alim, this was merely the "tip of the iceberg and only Allah knows how long this has been happening. At this stage, we don't have enough information on how far reachign the impact of this alleged practise is, but we can only imagine that the ramifications will be massive since this is a very large importer and distributor of products, both in South Africa and Southern Africa."

Legal action
Navlakhi said as soon as it was informed of the allegations, the three parties met with their lawyers at the weekend to determine the course of action. As a result on Monday they successfully applied for a search and seizure order in the Cape High Court which was executed on Wednesday morning.

"We provided the court with the footage we had at hand and from this evidence it was clear that not only have the religious sensibilities of Muslims blatantly been trampled upon, but this is outright fraud in terms of the Labelling Act. The public was deliberate misled about the origin and nature of the product, including selling products that might not be fit for human consumption," Navlakhi stated.

The search and seizure order allowed the Sheriff of the Court and its appointed team to - without prior notice to the company concerned - arrive on the premises to remove critical documentation. "This relates to information on the computers, importation documents, suppliers invoices and statements. It also allowed for goods found on the premises to be confiscated. This will now be analysed and evaluated before further action is taken, including criminal action or whatever is deemed necessary."

The next step, Navlakhi said, was Thursday's urgent application for an interim interdict which starts at 10am at the Cape High Court. He said the proceedings were open to the public and "it was now left to the individuals who have an interest or are concerned about the issue to attend or not. This expose definately leaves us very, very exposed as a minority Muslim group in this country."

He said it gave more impetus for the need for halal bodies in South Africa to unite and have a set of common standards, in particular for the halal certification of imported products, as well as monitoring such imports. "Otherwise we leave ourselves totally exposed to fraudulant, unethical and ruthless people such as these."

While too little was known at this stage - including how far these products had been distributed - Sanha called on any traders who had been affected or dealt with the products concerned to assist in the process of exposing the practise by providing as much information as they possibly can.

"For now, as in all matters of nature, due process has to be followed. If the interim interdict is successful Thursday, we will be able to examine not only the purchase and sale of these products, but also how it might have been certified as halal either locally or abroad. At present we don't have any details yet of any halal certification," the alim said.

By the same token, Navlakhi hastened to add that this might very well be an isolated case of alleged abuse. "To a large extent people have ethics and morals. There are very few people who overstep all bounds. However, this oversteps all bounds of ethics and morality. It is downright fraud - blatant and ruthless," he stated.

Orion
At the time of going to press, VOC had not been able to reach the company for comment, but will pursue the matter on Thursday. Orion Cold storage is part of the Gaertner Group and according to a press release issued by the company last year, the significant growth in the importation of frozen meat and poultry in the early 1990's saw it diversify its operations into different entities.

Airport Cold Storage was formed in 1995 for this purpose and drew its name from the purchase of industrial land close to Cape Town International airport for the development of a major cold storage facility. Subsequent to the sale of the airport land, the company retained the name, but not the address. "A change was always on the cards once suitable premises were identified, Gaertner said.

posted March 01, 2013 01:53 AM            

The erection of a new state-of-the-art cold storage facility offering approximately 3,000 tons of mobile racked freezer space opened its doors just before the Soccer World Cup 2010. The move to its new premises in Capricorn Business Park, Muizenberg, has saw the company change its name in late 2009 to Orion Cold Storage (Pty) Ltd.