Quebec grocery stores accused of blending pork into beef products
A Quebec news outlet says it has exposed some grocery stores who blend pork into ground meat products that are being sold as ground beef.
TVA Nouvelles’ Le Québec Matin published a story Thursday, claiming that out of four packages of ground beef it tested, three of the packages contained pork DNA.
The news outlet partnered with food laboratory Groupe EnvironeX, who specializes in testing food products in Quebec for allergens, toxins and food purity.
They purchased four ground beef products at four different grocery stores in Quebec, and took them to Groupe EnvironeX for testing. Three out of the four beef products showed evidence of containing pork DNA.
“It’s not normal to find pork DNA in ground beef,” Marc Hamilton, president of Groupe EnvironeX told Le Québec Matin. Groupe EnvironeX, a private laboratory facility, offers enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technology to test for allergens, and to verify species including pork, beef and poultry. If pork DNA is found in the product beyond a certain threshold, it means that pork was introduced into the product either voluntarily or unintentionally.
Pork is generally a cheaper ground product than ground beef.
“I am very surprised, because the directions we give in our meat departments are very clear,” Florent Gravel, CEO of the Quebec Association of Food Retailers in a translated statement to Le Québec Matin. According to Gravel, supermarkets are checked three times a year on the procedures of food handling at the stores, including in the meat departments.
The controversy comes on the heels of accusations levelled at Subway by CBC that the fast food chain’s chicken products only contain 50 per cent chicken DNA, with much of the remainder being made up of soy. In response to those accusations, Subway has launched a $210 million lawsuit against CBC, calling the report “absolutely false and misleading.”
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