Firm asks to donate mislabelled products
2013-02-22 22:26
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Finland
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Helsinki - A Finnish food company said on Friday it had
asked authorities to green-light a plan to donate its products found to contain
horsemeat to charities for the poor.
Food company Pouttu on Thursday withdrew more than five
ton of kebab dishes from sale after the company's internal tests found traces
of horse meat in products listing other meats on their labels.
Chief executive Pekka Kosonen said the idea had come from
social media users who were concerned about the environmental effects of
destroying tons of meat.
"We thought it was a good and honourable idea, and
if the authorities give us the green light, we are ready to give these dishes
to charities," he said.
Unlike other food companies hit by the European horsemeat
scandal, Pouttu said it knew the origin of the horsemeat, and that only the
labelling had been erroneous.
"We produce several dishes from horsemeat that come
from Brazil and Canada, and we have certificates of origin from our
suppliers," said Kosonen.
The Finnish Food Safety Authority, Evira, said it had no
objection in principle to the proposal.
"If the origin of the meat can be established and it
was kept frozen, the authorities may under certain conditions give the green
light despite the mislabelling of the packaging," said the agency's head
of food control, Kyoesti Siponen.
This time round consumers would be correctly informed
about the contents of the products, he added.
