Horsemeat: Minister Defends Defra Response

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson has mounted a robust defence of his department's actions following claims Government ministers were warned in 2011 that horsemeat was illegally entering the human food chain.

John Young, a former manager at the Meat Hygiene Service, now part of the Food Standards Agency (FSA), told The Sunday Times he warned the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) of the potential scandal in April that year, but was ignored.

He followed this up a month later in a letter saying, "are the lunatics in total control of the asylum?"

Mr Paterson said he had spoken to the FSA's chief executive, Catherine Brown, regarding the claims, which were made before he took up his position.

"I have discussed it with the chief executive of the FSA this morning and she is going to go back through the records and see exactly what was said at the time," he told Sky News' Murnaghan programme.

Supermarkets have warned consumers could pay the price for the scandal

The Cabinet minister, who has been accused of being "asleep at the wheel" by Labour, said his department could not have been more "active" since the recent revelations.

"We are making progress - a whole lot of premises have been investigated, a large amount of evidence has been taken, and in this country we have been extremely active. Three premises have been investigated, two closed down and a number of arrests made.

"We are completely determined to get to the bottom of this because no matter what the price of the product, the consumer should buy what is on the label. It is a fraud on the public."

He said British actions had triggered Europe-wide testing for horse DNA and bute - as well as coordinated probes into the crisis across the continent.

"Too much of this system is based on trust on paper, and there is not enough testing. We have to get back to more testing of products.

"It trusts that the palate conforms to the piece of paper. Nobody checks what's on the palate often enough. Nobody checks what's in production often enough. Nobody checks the finished product often enough."

He added: "When this is all through, I want to have a proper look at the whole system within the constraints of European law. I want to make sure we do reintroduce more targeted testing and more random testing of products."

Some 7% of people have stopped eating meat altogether, a poll suggests

The FSA said Mr Young's letter highlighted concerns about the horse passport system, which is the responsibility of Defra - not the illegal substitution of beef with horse.

A spokesperson said: "The horse passport system is the principal measure to keep horses testing positive for bute out of the food chain.

"During the past 12 months the FSA has increased the number of staff working in horse abattoirs to strengthen our oversight of the system. And from last week we introduced a system where all horses are tested for bute, and carcasses are not allowed into the food chain unless they have tested negative. This complements the protection provided by the horse passport system."

Meanwhile, the boss of one of the country's leading supermarkets warned consumers could end up paying the price for the scandal.

Mark Price, managing director of Waitrose, said ensuring food has the best safety guarantees means it can no longer be regarded as a "cheap commodity".

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, he said rising costs of rearing animals could mean that "somewhere along that long supply route, somebody has looked to cheat and take advantage of these circumstances either for their own personal greed or to keep a company afloat".

But supermarket chain Morrisons insisted "high quality meat does not need to be expensive".

A spokesman said: "We have invested in our own abattoirs and meat processing facilities to control cost and quality. Many meat supply chains are too complex, with too many middlemen, and this adds to cost and leads to more risk of adulteration."

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