Supermarkets act on mince fat after report

By Fred A'Court

- Published: 06 August, 2010

Supermarket groups are taking action on the level of fat in their mince, in the wake of a Local Government Authority (LGA) report, which slammed varying levels and misleading product information on mince products.

According to Trevor Gray, principal officer with West Yorkshire Trading Standards, the authority designated to work with Asda, "Some retailers are acting on the report", which has, he said, "created waves in the industry".

Mince content is being amended by major retailers in order to prevent overall guidelines being drawn up over the sale of mince. The LGA has recommended that the Association of Public Analysts (APA) works alongside councils and industry to draw up new recommendations for major retailers.

In an escalating row, Asda has called on the LGA to release more details on the products tested and has suggested that the tests were not consistent across all councils. An Asda spokesman said: "In our own tests, the most recent from last night, our minced beef conforms to the fat content guidelines as set by the LGA."

The LGA admitted this week that it did not have the specific results of individual samples. "It's not our role to look at what was bought," said an LGA spokesman. "Each supermarket group has a designated 'home authority', or Trading Standards division. We collated the results from the respective home authorities. We've not just gone out and bought a few packs of mince."

Communication between Asda and West Yorkshire Trading Standards is also strained. Gray expressed surprise that Asda had gone public with its demands for more details on products tested, effectively conducting the argument through the media, when his department was in constant talks and regular correspondence with the retailer. "They can come to us direct, that's what we're here for," he added.

The LGA survey criticised the varying amounts of fat in super-market mince, along with some misleading product descriptions and inaccurate labelling information, found in 500 samples taken from nine supermarket groups. The overall fat content of minced beef varied hugely, from the lowest at 1.8% to the highest at 33.6%, with an average of 27% more fat than was suggested on the labels.

The findings prompted the LGA to say that consumers "faced a lottery" when buying minced beef.