A Kent-based meat wholesaler has been prosecuted by West Sussex Trading Standards after it was found to be supplying sheep meat instead of goat.
Forge Farm Meats Ltd., based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, was found guilty of two offences under the Food Safety Act for supplying misrepresented goat legs to two West Sussex butchers.
Trading Standards officers were alerted to the case following a customer complaint and covertly purchased 11 goat samples from West Sussex butchers and restaurants. From the 11 samples eight were found to be sheep meat.
The company has been ordered to pay more than £8,000 in fines and costs.
Peter Aston, West Sussex Trading Standards team manager, said: “Traceability and correct labelling is vital as, once butchered, goat meat is very difficult to tell apart from mutton or lamb.
“Some of the sources of the meat tested traced back to a Spanish cutting plant, so as a result we are sharing information from our investigation with the Food Standards Agency and Spanish authorities.
“So far our investigations into this fraud have led to two West Sussex butchers receiving cautions and a meat supplier to the catering industry receiving a warning letter.”
David Barling, West Sussex County Council’s cabinet member for residents’ services, added: “Not only were consumers misled by this dishonest act, but so were the local businesses involved, who purchased the meat in good faith.
“This sentencing serves as a reminder to those that are involved in falsely advertising and selling produce that we will find out and we will make sure enforcement action is taken against you.”
Trading Standards is continuing its investigations to ensure all businesses involved no longer sell falsely described meat.
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
