Six in 10 Britons have changed their shopping habits following the horsemeat scandal, with many buying less processed meat, while consumer confidence in the food industry has plummeted, a survey published Wednesday suggests.
In the study by consumer group Which?, 30 percent said they were buying less processed meat while 24 percent were buying fewer ready meals with meat in or choosing vegetarian options.
Consumer trust in the food industry has also dropped by almost a quarter, according to the survey, after traces of horsemeat were found in a string of beef products across Europe.
Which? is calling for more food fraud surveillance and tougher enforcement to clamp down on illegal practices.
“The horsemeat scandal exposed the need for urgent changes to the way food fraud is detected and standards are enforced,” said Which? executive director Richard Lloyd.
“These serious failings must be put right if consumers are to feel fully confident in the food they are buying once more.”
In Britain, supermarket giant Tesco, which has already recalled three products containing horsemeat, on Tuesday announced that it had removed another contaminated range from its shelves.
The supermarket pulled the Tesco Simply brand of roast meatloaf, made at Eurostock in Craigavon, Northern Ireland, after tests found it contained between 2 percent and 5 percent horsemeat.
The Which? survey of over 2,000 people conducted by Populus last month, found that more than two-thirds of people think the government has not been doing enough to ensure labelling laws are enforced, with half of consumers not confident that ingredient information is accurate.
A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) spokeswoman said the government had “acted immediately to push for a European-wide solution” to what is a Europe-wide problem.
“From now on, the food industry will publish results of its own testing every three months,” she said. “These tests are backed up by local authority officers who analyse upwards of 90,000 food samples across the country every year.”
The scandal, which has affected a host of European countries including France, Sweden and Portugal, erupted in January when horse DNA was detected in beefburgers in Britain and Ireland.
It has embroiled major international corporations including Swedish furniture chain Ikea and Nestle, the Swiss food giant.
'Fewer buying processed meat' after horsemeat scandal
