Horsemeat Scandal Research Articles

Supply chain management in times of crisis: a multi-case study

Relying on an inductive multi-case logic, this study analyses public discourse involving four supply chain crises in Europe: (i) NotPetya Cyberattack on A.P. Møller-Maersk of 2017, (ii) the Evonik industrial accident of 2012, (iii) Cadbury’s Salmonella Scare of 2006 and (iv) Horsemeat Scandal of 2013. Grounded on contingency theory, the research finds three main operational vulnerabilities (an MSN of threats) surrounding the investigated cases: Market pressures, Sector dependencies and Network liabilities. The study also identifies four themes of crisis mitigation (4IR measures): (i) intelligence review for reassessments, (ii) integrated relationships for response, (iii) innovation resilience for recovery and (iv) integrity rebuilding for reassurance. Driving these mitigation measures is a customer-first mindset and close customer discussions that strive to restore normalcy, recover operations, and regulate networks. This research is original in its focus on a ‘supply chain crisis’ paradigm and adds to discourse on competitive and/or restorative capabilities for supply chain management (SCM) in times of crisis. Theoretically, the research advances a ‘coactive’ SCM strategy for improved SCM performance in times of crisis, and managerially, the value of the research lies in insights on ‘best practice’ for supply chain crisis management and decisiveness for confront and contain supply chain crises.

Alkaline lysis-recombinase polymerase amplification combined with CRISPR/Cas12a assay for the ultrafast visual identification of pork in meat products

The “Horsemeat Scandal” makes people pay more attention to the meat authenticity. However, expensive equipment, complicated operations, and professional personnel of current methods limit their field testing. In this study, CRISPR/Cas12a combined with recombinase polymerase amplification was used to establish a sensitive and rapid detection method for pig-derived component. The detection limit can reach to 10-3 ng for pig DNA and be completed within 30 min. Beef and pork binary mixture models under different processing conditions of raw meat, boiled, and high-pressure were tested. Combining with two different DNA extraction methods, the detection limits of pork are as low as 0.1% and 0.001% (w/w), respectively. After 125 commercial products are tested, the results are completely consistent with the Chinese national standard real-time PCR method. This method not only has better detectability, but also can quickly and conveniently realize the visual identification of pig-derived ingredients, thus is suitable for on-site detection.

Direct lysis-multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay for beef fraud substitution with chicken, pork and duck

Since the "Horsemeat Scandal" in Europe has aroused people's attention to adulteration of meat, real-time PCR method was used as gold standard to detect single animal species. However, real-time PCR requires expensive equipment, professional personnel, and fluorescent probes with specific modifications in addition to primers, which limit the practical application of this technology for multiple fraud identification. Therefore, the rapid, economical, multiple detection technology for the authenticity of animal-derived ingredients is in urgent need. In this study, a novel direct lysis-multiplex polymerase chain reaction (DL-mPCR) method is reported to simultaneously identify pork, chicken and duck adulterated in beef products within 90 min for the first time. A novel direct lysis (DL) method is employed to obtain sample DNA in a more convenient way without a high-speed centrifuge. The sample preparation step is greatly simplified compared to commercial kit method and can be completed within 15 min. Four pairs of high-specificity primers for the mitochondrial D-loop region of cattle, pig, chicken and duck were designed. The highly specific and sensitivity mPCR assay with optimal primer ratio was constructed, which could detect pork, chicken and duck down to 0.1% (w/w) in meat mixtures treated with freezing, heating and autoclaving, respectively. It was found that 27.8% of 79 commercial beef products collected in local markets contained pork or chicken to varying degrees. The accuracy of the results had been verified by standard real-time PCR. This novel approach (DL-mPCR) proved to be very reliable, time-saving and practical, especially suitable for low-resource front-line detection of meat authentication.

The “horse-meat” scandal: illegal activity in the food supply chain

PurposeFood supply chain theory and practice generally assumes that the business practices and processes involved are ethical, legal and value-adding when this is not always so, as demonstrated by the ongoing 2013 horse-meat scandal. Although it is ostensibly a UK-based affair, it encompasses the meat processing industry across Europe. This study, thus, aims to examine supply chain criminality and to highlight “scandal scripts” which amplify underlying issues.Design/methodology/approachA systematic review of extant literature on the scandal adds to that body of work, updating the existing narrative to include a detailed analysis of convicted “industry insiders”, highlighting supply chain issues involved in the frauds. Micro-stories of businessmen involved are presented to enable an empirical exploration of their illegal involvement in the meat trade. Using storied data from accounts of the scandal as contemporary examples, emerging themes and issues are outlined through a mixed methods qualitative approach consisting of ethical covert research, using documentary research strategy underpinned by narrative inquiry.FindingsMedia coverage perpetuated various myths notably that the fraud was carried out by “shadowy”, Eastern European “mafia figures” exploiting the extended food supply chains. The analysis is aided by the use of media hypothesis. Far from being a mafia-inspired fraud, the criminal activity was organised in nature and committed by insider businessmen. The findings demonstrate that supply chains are complex and require an understanding of storied business practices, including the ethical and illegal.Research limitations/implicationsFrom an academic perspective, there are implications such as the dearth of academic research and policy-related studies into food fraud possibly because of the difficulty in obtaining data because of access to such enterprises and entrepreneurs necessitating reliance upon documentary sources and investigative journalism.Practical implicationsThere are distinct policy implications, particularly the need to legislate against international criminal conspiracies and everyday ordinary organised food frauds perpetuated. Lax penalties do little to prevent such crimes which need to be taken more seriously by the authorities, and treated as major crime. In formulating food laws, rules and regulations, greater cognisance should be taken to consider how supply chains in the food industry could be better protected from predatory criminal actions.Originality/valueThis novel qualitative study will enable academics and practitioners to better understand illegal enterprise, food fraud and risk management from both operational and supply chain perspectives and will be useful to investigators by furthering our understanding of entrepreneurial practice and morality in the food industry.

Barcoding animal species

Barcoding animal species

A 20-year analysis of reported food fraud in the global beef supply chain

BackgroundThe Horsemeat Scandal of 2013 highlighted vulnerabilities within the European beef supply chain. The report resulted in mass product recalls across Europe, a downturn in beef sales, and subsequent economic losses for genuine actors in the supply chain. The aim of this review was to improve understanding of beef supply chain vulnerability via the use of trend analysis, to enable the formulation of strategies that may help in the prevention and detection of fraud in beef products, and facilitate greater protection for consumers and industry in the future. Scope and approachRelevant Food notifications published in the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) and HorizonScan in 1997–2017 were extracted and analysed to determine their overall pattern. Frauds/adulterations were categorized by the type of fraud, their location in the food production chain, the notifying country and the origin of the food. ConclusionsCounterfeiting was the most common type of fraud in the beef industry; it accounted for 42.9% of all reports documented. When reports were classified by area in the supply chain in the report occurred, 36.4% of all cases were attributed to primary processing, of which 95.5% were counterfeiting cases. Counterfeiting included products manufactured/packed on unapproved premises, or without appropriate inspection or documentation, as well as products issued with fraudulent health certificates.Thus we conclude counterfeit product was found to be the biggest threat to the beef supply chain in relation to fraud type.

Meat Vulnerabilities to Economic Food Adulteration Require New Analytical Solutions.

Meat has been identified as one of the food categories at most risk of food fraud. Meat species substitution has been in the spotlight with the European horse meat scandal in 2013. Analysis of cases reported on the web shows that incidents of meat substitution are still recurring worldwide. Altogether these cases highlight significant weaknesses in the supply chain transparency and traceability of raw meat materials. This has triggered recent progress from the food industry to apply new software tools enabling the mapping of meat supply chains. Nevertheless, a meat vulnerability assessment showed that meat and derivatives are highly susceptible to many fraudulent malpractices. Therefore, more effective measures are needed to manage the risk and new analytical solutions are required to increase the deterrence of meat adulteration and rapid detection of fraud. DNA-based methods have evolved rapidly as shown with the application of the new LCD array and Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) in order to detect broad meat species adulteration. Moreover, new technologies such as NGS together with the Rapid Evaporative Ionization Mass Spectrometry (REIMS) are emerging as a really promising association of analytical approaches for rapid detection of several malpractices.

International sourcing decisions in the wake of a food scandal

This research investigates whether and how the 2013 Horsemeat Scandal has altered European food retailers’ efforts to mitigate fraud in the international agri-food supply chain. We construct an econometric model that matches fraud alert data from the European Union (EU) Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) from 2006 to 2016 with annual data on bilateral trade flows. We find that—prior to the horsemeat scandal—detection of fraud along the supply chain induced a small amount of trade diversion toward third-country sources, but did not substantially affect total trade into the EU. In contrast, in the years after the scandal, the detection of fraud by international suppliers was substantially trade destructive. Detection of fraud reduced trade, not only with the country from which the fraudulent product originated, but also from third-country exporters of the same product. These findings extend beyond trade in meat products and to importing countries outside Western and Northern Europe.

Investigation of phenylbutazone and its metabolite oxyphenbutazone in horse meat products during years 2013-2017.

This study showed the results of a monitoring program aimed at detecting the fraudulent use of horse meat in samples collected in the framework of official controls during the years 2013-2017 after the so-called horse meat scandal that caused a decreasing consumer confidence in the food industry, particularly in meat products. A total of 125 samples diversely distributed in the 5years of monitoring were analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The method was validated according to Commission Decision 657/2002/EC with regard to the following parameters: linearity, specificity, decision limit (CCα), detection capability (CCβ), recovery, and precision (repeatability and within-laboratory reproducibility). Even if the results of this study revealed no positive sample, the need for constant assurance of food safety and consumers' health protection requires the implementation of preventive as well as corrective actions in the management of risks linked to the food chain in a more global context.

An investigation of social media data during a product recall scandal

ABSTRACTAs social media has become an important part of modern daily life, users often share product opinions online and these tend to spike when large companies undergo crises. This paper investigates customer online responses to a large company crisis by uncovering hidden insights in social media comments and presents a framework for handling social media data and crisis management. Analysis of textual Facebook data from users responding to the 2013 horsemeat scandal is presented. In this study, we used a novel comprehensive data analysis framework alongside a text-mining framework to objectively classify and understand customer perceptions during this horsemeat scandal. This framework provides an effective approach for investigating customer perception during a company crisis and measures the effectiveness of crisis management practices which the company has adopted. Our analyses show that social media can provide important insights into customer behaviour during crisis communications.

Application of Design of Experiment for Detection of Meat Fraud with a Portable Near-Infrared Spectrometer

Background: Meat fraud generated a huge outrage amongst customers in 2013 in Europe due to the horsemeat scandal. Portable and hand-held optical near-infrared (NIR, 4,00012,500 cm-1/800-2,500 nm) spectroscopy sensors are traded as promising fast, non-invasive and easy analytical tools that might be applicable at any independent place of inspection. In order to embrace the on-going trend towards instrumental miniaturization, it was the aim of the present feasibility study to evaluate the application of Design of Experiment for frequently applied portable micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) based spectrometer by comparing its performance to a bench-top Fourier-Transform polarization near-infrared (FT-NIR) instrument. Methods: 63 samples of different meat types (beef: 9, chicken: 10, mutton: 10, turkey: 10, pork: 10, horse meat: 14) were measured in order to classify the meat-type using a portable micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) based spectrometer and a bench-top Fourier-Transform polarization nearinfrared (FT-NIR) instrument, in order to compare the performance of both systems. In a second step different meat types were minced together in order to investigate the level of adulteration which can be detected using MEMS and FT-NIR. Design of Experiment (DoE) was applied to enhance results. Results: The accuracy of MEMS versus FT-NIR for identifying whole / minced pieces of chicken, pork, turkey, beef and mutton meat (63 samples) against horse meat appeared to be 75.0-100.0% (MEMS) vs. 62.5%-100.0% (FT-NIR) for whole pieces and 75.0-100.0% (MEMS and FT-NIR) for minced meat. When mincing different types of meat together, a maximum of 4 and 1 factors were required for establishing a PLS-R model using again the spectra recorded with MEMS and FT-NIR, respectively. The resulting quality parameters for the MEMS device were: R2=0.06-0.62, Standard Error of Cross Valdiation (SECV)= 17.33-32.91, Ratio of Performance to Deviation (RPD) =0,54-1,70 and for the FTNIR system: R2=0.85-0.94, SECV=7.52-13.83%, RPD=2.2-5.7 (FT-NIR). The limit of detection was found at 10% for the MEMS and at 1% for the FT-NIR device. Conclusion: Meat classification can be performed using the bench-top FT-NIR as well as the hand-held MEMS-NIR. Mincing the meat samples does not necessarily improve classification accuracy as information about the surface structure is lost. NIRS prediction models for adulterations were established for the bench-top system. Prediction models for the hand-held device are inconclusive and have to be improved by a larger sample set and/or further progress in miniaturization technique. Low level adulteration (<10%) may also be predictable with NIRS, but continuative research is necessary. Keywords: Design of experiment, meat fraud, near-infrared, hand-held spectrometer, MEMS, polarization.

Critiquing the Inter-Disciplinary Literature on Food Fraud

The European Horsemeat Scandal of 2013 is a recent manifestation of the problem of ‘Food fraud’. It is important from a criminological perspective because it exists at the nexus between organized crime and bad business practice and is a contemporary example of criminal-entrepreneurship. From a practical perspective it is a pernicious criminal activity perpetuated by diverse organized-crime-groups, rogue-entrepreneurs and food-industry-insiders. It is a white-collar-crime committed in the commercial arena, across an extended international food-chain. Geographic and policy boundaries make it difficult to police. Although a high level of awareness of the fraud exists globally, there is a dearth of critical academic research into the phenomenon. The extant literature is spread thinly across various disciplinary silos. This essay by two Business School Scholars and a Food Scientist, discusses the need to develop a more critical, inter-disciplinary approach to developing appropriate theoretical frameworks.

A multiplex real-time PCR method for the quantitative determination of equine (horse) fractions in meat products

The recent horse meat scandal that rocked Europe in early 2013 shows how important it is for the routine food control authorities to constantly evolve analytical tools for the accurate evaluation of meat products among others, to ensure that product declaration and actual composition correlate. While in most cases qualitative detection approaches suffice for product evaluation, in other cases a quantitative analysis is important to distinguish between inadvertent contamination and deliberate adulteration.In this work an optimized real-time qPCR-based approach is presented and compared with another real-time based method for the detection of equine sequences among others in meat products. The method is a multiplex system for the simultaneous quantification of horse, beef, pork and sheep fractions, and was validated for use in the routine analysis of meat products. We describe a modular multiplex approach, where a quadruplex system (without sheep) and a pentaplex assay (with an integrated sheep detection system) can be applied in meat detection and quantification strategies. The analysis is matrix independent and relies on concomitant quantification of the animal species present in the food sample against the backdrop of myostatin, a universal sequence present in most mammalian and poultry species. The limit of detection of the analytical method was 10 genome copy equivalents. For validation of the method, meat samples comprising differing meat compositions were analysed, and the assay performed well in terms of robustness and reproducibility.

GMOs Across the Atlantic

GMOs Across the Atlantic Sacrificing Precaution in the Name of Free Trade? Kofi Annan once said “[…] that arguing against globalisation is like arguing against the laws of gravity”. The world has evolved into a place of omnipresent interconnectivity where people are linked across borders by economic, political, friendly and family ties. Although risks have likewise become globalised in the process, risk management still largely constitutes a national issue. While transnational food scandals as the BSE crisis in 1997 or the horse meat scandal of 2013 have shaken consumers within and beyond the European Union (EU), Member States (MS) nonetheless continue to insist on their sovereignty to approach and handle uncertain risks by themselves. There are a variety of levels related to dealing with uncertain risks that are affected by this controversy. Amongst them are science as in risk assessment, law as in risk regulation and politics as in risk management and the overall coordinating risk governance processes. As neither science or law nor politics are able to provide fully sound and satisfying solutions for coping with uncertain risks, controversy and heated debate remains even long after a political decision has been made on a case. It is striking how all these disciplines attempt to appropriately respond to uncertainty, while they do actually add more complexity and differing opinions. There consequently is no solid ground for policy-makers to base their final decisions on and justify the particular regulation or acceptance of risks. It remains an issue how politics can effectively work in light of uncertainty. This is especially important when considering the effects of globalisation. Through international trade and the flow of goods through the world economy, products associated with uncertain risk cross national borders on a daily basis and need to be regulated. The ongoing negotiations on a free trade agreement between the European Union and the United States of America have highlighted the difficulties regarding this process. If successfully concluded, supposedly by the end of 2014, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) would constitute the largest free trade zone worldwide and both the EU and the US would benefit tremendously. However, negotiations have not gone so smoothly due to prevailing disagreement over the rules that should apply for the TTIP. With regards to food safety, the EU and the US have already had difficulties in the past to agree on a common denominator. Related differences and incompatibilities become evident in the debate on food safety. Although consumer protection is a highlyranked principle for both parties, there is little agreement on what requires strict protective measures and what should be regulated only mildly. In the past and recently, problematic issues for the EU have included US exports of genetically modified crops into the EU as well as meat imports from American hormone-treated or -fed animals and chicken meat that was treated with chlorine. On the part of the US, concerns have mostly been about EU lactic-acid washed meat, raw milk cheese and dairy imports into the States. Both parties have according precautionary measures in place, but request each other to drop the various bans and ease regulatory practices and processes on other products.

Food fraud and consumers’ choices in the wake of the horsemeat scandal

Purpose – In 2012, the European food industry was hit by a food fraud: horsemeat was found in pre-prepared foods, without any declaration on the package. This is commonly referred to as the “horsemeat scandal”. The purpose of this paper is to investigate consumers’ preferences across Europe for a selected ready meal, ready to heat (RTH) fresh lasagne, to consider whether the effects of potential food frauds on consumers’ choices can be mitigated by introducing enhanced standards of RTH products. Design/methodology/approach – An online survey was administered to 4,598 consumers of RTH lasagne in six European countries (Republic of Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Norway), applying discrete choice experiments to estimate consumers’ willingness to pay for enhanced food safety standards and highlight differences between countries. Findings – Many similarities across countries emerged, as well as some differences. Consumers in Europe are highly concerned with the authenticity of the meat in ready meals and strongly prefer to know that ingredients are nationally sourced. Strong regional differences in price premiums exist for enhanced food safety standards. Originality/value – This research adds relevant insights in the analysis of consumers’ reaction to food fraud, providing practical guidelines on the most appropriate practices that producers should adopt and on the information to reduce food risk perception among consumers. This would prove beneficial for the food processing industry and the European Union. The survey is based on a representative sample of European consumers making this the largest cross-country study of this kind.

Revisiting the European Horsemeat Scandal: The Role of Power Asymmetry in the Food Supply Chain Crisis

This study explores the role of power asymmetry in the food supply chain, especially in relation to the channel conflict, and ultimate breakdown that culminated in the infamous European horsemeat scandal across Europe. Drawing upon the power‐dependency, and to some extent, social exchange theory, the study posits that mutual dependence between single supplier–multiple buyer relationships where major retailers are the weaker partners, may require a revisitation of risk management practices in that sector. In addition to the fraudulent and unethical practices established from media reporting on the horsemeat scandal, the study argues that the power asymmetry/imbalance may have contributed to a supplier culture that tolerated the unethical decision making leading to the horsemeat scandal. Based on an extensive review of secondary data sources comprising media reports on the scandal and a review of the academic literature on power dependency and social exchange theories, the study attempts to map out the root of the crisis, how to forestall future recurrence, and the managerial and policy implications of these. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Contamination, deception and ‘othering’: the media framing of the horsemeat scandal

ABSTRACTFood and consumption practices are cultural symbols of communities, nations, identity and a collective imaginary which bind people in complex ways. The media framed the 2013 horsemeat scandal by fusing discourses beyond the politics of food. Three recurrent media frames and dominant discourses converged with wider political debates and cultural stereotypes in circulation in the media around immigration and intertextual discourse on historical food scandals. What this reveals is how food consumption and food-related scandals give rise to affective media debates and frames which invoke fear of the other and the transgression of a sacred British identity, often juxtaposing ‘Britishness’ with a constructed ‘Otherness’.

Insight from the horsemeat scandal

Purpose – Social media has become an important part of daily interpersonal communication in contemporary society. The purpose of this paper is to explore the attitudes of UK consumers by identifying the hidden information in tweets, and provide a framework which can assist industry practitioners in managing social media data. Design/methodology/approach – Using a large-scale dataset of tweets relating to the Horsemeat scandal of 2013, a comprehensive data analysis framework, which comprises multidimensional scaling and sentiment analysis, alongside other methods, was applied to explore customers’ opinions. Findings – Making jokes in social media was a main trend in the tweets relating to Tesco during the Horsemeat scandal. Consumer sentiments were overall negative and burgers were the most mentioned product in the week-long period after the story broke. The posting of tweets was correlated with the timing of news coverage, which indicates that the traditional media is still crucial to public opinion formation. Practical implications – This paper presents a progressive tweet-mining framework that can serve as a tool for academia and practitioners in crisis management. The proposed framework indicates the significant importance of timely categorising the topics, identifying the sentiment of tweets and understanding the changes of consumer opinions over time in a crisis. Originality/value – The research presented in this paper is one of the limited social media research to focus on a UK food fraud issue and adds to the limited body of literature investigating consumer social media use from the side of industry practitioners.

‘Peeling Back the Mask’: Sociopathy and the Rhizomes of the eu Food Industry

This article examines the eu food industry (apropos of the 2013 ‘Horse Meat Scandal’) applying the notion of sociopathy which has hitherto been confined to analyses of corporate banking and insurance. In the ‘underground’ of the eu meat industry we encounter sociopaths nurtured not only by the rhizomes of its industrial con, but also by collective consumer apathy: Despite a pervasive culture of food fraud—with at least 1305 different ingredient adulteration cases since 1980—there is little criminological examination of the culture and environment of the everyday, ‘harmless’, sociopaths present in the tributaries of the eu food supply. More than merely mapping the food industry sociopath, our overall aim is to contribute an interdisciplinary reading of the processes which sustain and reproduce his kind.

Emerging food safety issues: An EU perspective.

Safe food is the right of every citizen of the European Union (EU). A comprehensive and dynamic framework of food and feed safety legislation has been put in place and the EU's executive arm - the European Commission - is responsible for ensuring that the EU member states apply food law consistently. Similarly, the Commission plays an important role in ensuring that imported food meets the EU's stringent food safety standards. Consumer perceptions of unsafe food tend to focus on acute outbreaks of bacterial or viral origin. In recent years there have been a number of diverse food crises associated with fraudulent activity which may (e.g. melamine in dairy products in China) or may not (e.g. the horse meat scandal in the EU) represent a genuine food safety risk. Well publicized incidents of chronic exposure to chemical contamination in the EU (e.g. dioxins in meat and mycotoxins in nuts) have required robust coordinated policy responses from the Commission. Despite the decreasing incidence of non-compliant residues of veterinary medicinal products and banned substances in animal products, EU consumers are increasingly concerned about the use of such products in food-producing animals, including in the context of the build-up of antimicrobial resistance in animals and transfer to humans. The Commission plays a key role in coordination of the EU member states' responses to such incidents, in risk management, and in preparation for emerging issues. This paper focuses on how the EU as a whole has dealt with a number of food crises, and what can be learned from past incidents. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.