“They’ve only just discovered the horsemeat in lasagnes because
the cheese on top was mascarpone.”
The horsemeat scandal has given Twitter users much to laugh
about this week and the national papers and broadsheets have been riding on the back of their jokes (sorry,
I just couldn’t help it!). Even Downing Street tried to make a funny, with a
spokeswoman describing horsemeat in lasagne as “very distasteful.” How
hilarious.
What really is funny though is how each of the brands and suppliers
caught up in the story have responded, causing a ruckus for the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and whipping up a political point-scoring storm.
When horse-burger gate struck last month, Tesco urgently
withdrew the items from sale and immediately dropped its supplier, Silvercrest.
Taking swift action sent a responsible message to its customers, good move. They
also used press advertising to tell consumers about the actions they were
taking and let their CEO take control of the supermarket’s official blog where
he recognised that “trust is hard won and easily lost”. Again, a good move,
showing a conscientious effort is being made to put things right.
Aldi’s statement to the FSA in Ireland said: “We take the
quality of all of our products extremely seriously.” Phew, that IS good news. “Following
the withdrawal of our Oakhurst Burgers in the Republic of Ireland, we have made
the decision to withdraw three products from sale in the UK as a purely
precautionary measure whilst we conduct further investigations. Any customers
who wish to return the products in question will receive an immediate refund.”
As a consumer, precautionary measures sound good to me, I like the thought that
they are taking EXTRA care so overall this is an acceptable response.
So when horsemeat contamination reared its head again this week, what did Findus UK say? Some of
its beef lasagne range was found to contain 100% horsemeat so come on, let’s
make no beef about it, that’s a lasagne filled entirely with horsemeat. This,
according to Findus, is not a food safety issue and they have withdrawn SOME
products from its beef lasagne range. Bad, bad, bad Findus, you’ve given me the
impression you’re not taking this seriously.
The FSA seems to have been slow on the uptake and is now in a
flap, suspecting “criminal activity” is to blame rather than any regulatory
incompetence. Meanwhile, the opposition is using the scandal to beat the
Government with, accusing them of “pretending this isn’t happening”.
I don’t envy the many communications departments having to deal
with all this. But while we’re all busy laughing about it, there will be
benefits for the ones who deal with the fall out seriously and responsibly, and
consequences for those who keep horsing around.
Seriously though, who’s considering becoming vegetarian now?
Rachel
Meagher
Account
Director
