June 9, 2006

UK supermarket chain bans Brazilian beef

ASDA, a supermarket chain in the UK and a subsidiary of Wal-Mart is pulling Brazilian beef from its stores on claims that the meat does not meet British standards.

Imports would resume once its supplier proves it has met the required standards, a spokesman said.

The National Farmers' Union (NFU) has said Brazilian farms do not meet the same strict criteria as farms in Britain and highlighted the presence of foot-and-mouth disease as a cause for concern.

NFU deputy president Meurig Raymond said Asda has repeatedly assured consumers that all of the imported beef sold in their stores was reared to British farm assured standards and so did not represent unfair competition.

However, there is now apparent that Asda has sold beef from Brazil that does not comply with British standards of farm assurance or traceability, Raymond said.

The US has banned beef imports from Brazil due to traceability issues, according to the NFU.

Brazilian meat makes up less than 1 percent of its beef sales while 80 percent came from Britain, an Asda spokesman said.