August 24, 2009
Finland may tighten food regulation on meat scandal
A meat scandal in Finland has led the authorities there to investigate whether its food regulations need to be tightened.
Grocers had reportedly systematically marinated spoilt meat products to cloak the foul smell of meat that has passed its sell-by date.
The heated debate on the quality of stores' fresh fish and meat products indicated the quality still needed improvements, said Jaana Husu-Kallio, the director general of the Finnish Food Safety Authority.
Both Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sirkka-Liisa Anttila and Husu-Kallio urge consumers to be more critical shoppers by stating that regulation alone will not rectify health and safety breaches.
Debate over the safety of meat products emerged over the weekend after an anonymous supervisor of a large supermarket chain told the daily Helsingin Saomat of poor hygiene practices at supermarket meat counters.
