May 27, 2021
 

Spanish authorities discover illegal meat products in recent operations

Authorities in Spain have recently found alleged fraudulent sale of meat products.

The Guardia Civil ran two operations in Madrid and Salamanca.

In one action called Operation SLICE, more than 63,000 containers of products were seized as some had labels that looked to have been modified.

Authorities arrested six people and investigated another two from seven food companies in the provinces of Madrid, Córdoba, Toledo and Badajoz. They are suspected of changing labeling and using false traceability of meat products.

Seized items were worth up to €967,000 (US$1.19 million) and posed a risk to public health, as they were considered unfit for consumption, according to the Guardia Civil.

The investigation began this past year when suspicious documentation was identified on products prepared for sale as Iberian in a warehouse in Córdoba. They were sent to a supermarket chain for sale nationwide, which was unaware of the product fraud.

In one of the supermarket chain’s logistics centers in Getafe, the sale of 5,768 packages of supposedly Iberian products was stopped. Officials discovered that in other storage facilities in Córdoba, Toledo, Barcelona, Seville, Málaga, Alicante, Almería, Cádiz, Zaragoza and Valladolid, containers also showed the same irregularities.

In another action, a company selling cured pork products, which had two physical stores in Jaén and a website for direct sale to the public was thought to be fraudulently selling products, specifically hams.

The firm sold hams as 100% Bellota with the Guijuelo Protected Designation of Origin sign at a lower price than those legally marketed under that name and didn’t comply with the Iberian quality standard.

Labels with falsified logos of the Guijuelo Protected Designation of Origin and hams already labeled and ready for shipment were seized as traceability could not be proven.

- Food Safety News