84 Unexpected Consequences
In fairness, organized food fraud is not confined to the United States.
In January 0 3 , Irish food inspectors found horsemeat in frozen beef
burgers. Millions of processed foods like lasagna, packaged ground beef,
and hamburgers were pulled from supermarket shelves and fast-food
restaurants across the European Union.
Europeans were outraged, particularly that they may have consumed
contaminants like anti-inflammatory drugs used in horses but banned
for humans. In Great Britain, the fraud touched a societal nerve. As
details emerged, public outcry prompted an outside review.
Leaks from the interim report were so hard-hitting that the final
release was purportedly delayed for months to tone down its findings.
Sanitized as it might have been, the report still underscored that food
fraud was not a random, isolated, or victimless act. The evidence pointed
to substantial organized crime.
Yet what had happened was self-inflicted. Agency budgets had
been cut, boundaries between government departments were blurred,
political interference was tolerated, and enforcement authority had been
stripped away. Regulators lacked the experience and expertise to combat
organized crime. Apathy from suppliers, politicians, and consumers had
fostered a culture in which food fraud could flourish.
Less than two years after the initial outbreak, authorities announced
another horsemeat trafficking crackdown. This time, it involved seven
European Union countries, and once again Great Britain. The main
tool used to inject illegal meat into the human food supply—simple
falsification of official health documents.
Whether in Europe, the United States or beyond, there are no limits
to ingenuity in defrauding consumers. Fraudulent ketchup packaged
in premium Heinz ketchup bottles was only detected after counter-
feit bottles began exploding. Poultry meat covered in feces and slime
was cleaned up with chemicals and then relabeled and sold to consum-
ers. Olive oil extracted from the fat of olive skins and pits using heat
and chemical solvents like hexane was marketed as “ 00 % pure olive
oil.” Meat made from rats, minks, and foxes was marketed as beef and
mutton. Melamine (an industrial toxin) was added to milk (and pet
food) to spike tests for protein content and higher prices. Pork meat was
contaminated with clenbuterol (an illegal feed additive). Shrimp were
injected with gelatin. Cabbage was treated with formaldehyde. And