Food & Beverage News: Insights, Safety, and Dining Trends
- Report by EFRA says there is no clear data on the scale and nature of illegal meat and dairy entering Great Britain.
- Illegal meat and dairy can carry and spread serious diseases like foot and mouth disease and African swine fever across borders.
- Unknown slaughter, handling, and storage conditions make illegally imported meat a direct consumer health risk.
- Criminal enterprises exploit personal import routes; Defra's ban is called toothless as prohibited products enter via airports, seaports, and Eurotunnel.
UK MPs are warning illegal meat and dairy imports are entering the country in “alarming amounts”, risking a major disease outbreak.
According to a new report from the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) committee, high volumes of illegal meat is putting UK food security at risk.
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EFRA described the illegal meat imports as “unacceptable” and said there is “no clear data showing the scale and nature of the illegal meat entering Great Britain”.
The committee said the banned items carry a risk of spreading serious animal diseases such as foot and mouth disease and African swine fever (ASF), which can travel long distances and cross borders in contaminated meat and dairy products.
The imported meat also poses serious health risks to consumers, EFRA claimed. “The conditions of slaughter, handling and storage are unknown and unregulated,” it said. “Alarming amounts of meat and dairy products are now being illegally imported to Great Britain for both personal consumption and sale.”
A report by EFRA said public awareness of animal disease risks is low as is the awareness of the rules about what food you can bring into the country for personal use.
Meanwhile, the report claimed criminal enterprises are using the personal import routes to smuggle in “large quantities of illegal meat for sale around the country with impunity”.
The committee said Defra’s ban on personal imports of most meat and dairy from the EU has been “toothless”.
It claimed prohibited animal products continue to enter the UK through airports, seaports and Eurotunnel.
The news comes as global meat continues to surge in price, primarily driven by increased import demand for beef and lamb from the US and China.
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