Meat label lies mean 1 in 5 products contain animal not stated on packet

Six years on from the horsegate scandal that shook Britain and the following ­crackdown, shoppers should feel ­confident their meat is what the label says it is.

But the Mirror has discovered customers are still being ripped off, with one in five products containing cheaper cuts from different animals.

The Food Standards Agency carried out 69 tests between June 2018 and May 2019 and found 12 items were contaminated with “unspecified meat or DNA species not declared on the label”.

There was ham that contained no ham, lamb doner kebabs without a trace of lamb and pork sausages that also had lamb and beef in them.

Experts also insist Tory cuts to public services are allowing dodgy meat to get through as trading standards officers are too stretched to carry out tests.

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute’s David Pickering branded the latest scandal a “fraud consumers can’t see”.

He added: “How would you know that the ham in your sandwich is not really ham?”

Which? strategic policy adviser Sue Davies said: “It is concerning if, six years on from the horse meat scandal, consumers are still being misled about meat they are eating.

“The ­Government and local authorities must clamp down on food fraud.”

The Local Government Association’s Simon Blackburn added: “Significant funding cuts are affecting council services, which include trading standards budgets and staffing being cut by half.

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