Batswana fed mis-lablelled meat?

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Monday March 4, 2013 00:00

For Botswana's diverse tribal make up, the South African meat mislabelling may have led to people eating totem symbols (sereto), all thanks to some greedy Mzanzi dealers.

Segwapanyana, the biltong, is one of the much-adored snacks among Batswana. But it may be not what many believe it is, after a research in South Africa unearthed that game meat packaged as biltong is one of the mislabelled food items. According to DNA results of South African biltong, which is also sold in many shops on this side of the border, most of the biltong contains undeclared meat. 

According to the study by scientists from the University of the Western Cape, there is a major substitution of species in the market.

Of the 146 samples tested, over 100 contained undeclared meat species. While all the samples marked beef were correctly labelled, 92 percent of packets of kudu biltong contained different species such as horse, giraffe, pork, beef and even kangaroo.

Up to 68 percent of 139 meat samples from shops and butcheries had irregular ingredients, with pork and chicken most often substituted for other meat.

Plant matter was also found in the minced meat, burger patties, sausages and deli and dried meat. The study, published in the European scientific journal BioMed Central, was conducted between 2009 and last year.

The researchers say the substitutions are intentional because kangaroo does not occur in South Africa and it must have been imported (mostly from Australia).

'Also finding pork in ostrich sausage, that is intentional, there is no way that is going to be a mistake,' the researchers were quoted as saying.

Game meat biltong is mega business in South Africa where over 10,000 wildlife farms are listed. The meat is seen as healthier than beef because it is leaner, contains low cholesterol and no hormones or antibiotics that get injected into domestic farm animals. South Africa authorities last week launched an 'urgent' investigation into how unlabelled donkey, water buffalo and goat meat got into products sold in supermarkets, following findings of a separate study.

The European Union (EU) is reeling under some unprecedented food controversy after horsemeat was found in so-called beef ready-made meals and burgers in various outlets across the continent.