All products from meat processor Esro Food Group in Nuenen must be removed from the market immediately. The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) raided the company last week, alleging fraud with unsuitable and spoiled meat.
“The recall is being made as a precaution, because the quality and safety of the meat cannot be guaranteed,” the NVWA reports. The company was already banned from production and trading on April 16.
The Intelligence and Investigation Service of the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA-IOD) arrested two directors and a manager of the company last week. The trio is suspected of trading unsuitable and unsafe meat and forging documents.
An initial analysis by the NVWA points to “serious negligence” in business operations regarding the quality and safety of the products. “It also appears that machines were not properly cleaned and hygiene protocols were not observed. Furthermore, documents may have been falsified on a large scale.”
Meat used for frikandels
The company was allowed to, among other things, debone beef heads and make minced meat from them, which is used, among other things, for frikandels. The condition was that the meat was only sold to companies that are allowed to further process that meat into food. The NVWA believes that the company has also supplied to companies that do not have such recognition.
