‘Dog food hot dogs’ sold to Dutch snackbars

7 June 2004

AMSTERDAM — Food authorities revoked the operating licence of a meat product company in Stekene in Belgium last week after used dog food meat was found in almost 20,000kg of “chicken frikadel” and “chicken burgers” that were sold in the Netherlands. Ironically, a frikadel is a mince meat hot dog.

The Federal Food Agency in Belgium has recalled the products because the meat scraps used in the products were intended for use in the dog food industry, news agency ANP reported.

The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (VWA) claimed on Friday that a large quantity of the suspect food products were still in the possession of a Dutch company at a cold storage warehouse. The VWA strongly urged the company to recall all sold products.

The VWA has also advised the company to alert the public. The two directors of the Belgian company were arrested in Belgium. The company operated under the names CSFF and Delireine.

But the VWA is legally unable to release the name of the Dutch public. A spokeswoman said the company did not supply large snackbars or retail chains. Most of the stores supplied with the “dog food frikadellen” are small butchers and snackbars.

The Dutch consumer watchdog Consumentenbond labelled the actions of the Belgian company criminal and said it is disappointing that it took so long for the crime to be discovered. It said the tracing system of food and the recall system must be re-examined.

[Copyright Expatica News 2004]

Subject: Dutch news