Uruguayan suppliers react to innacuracies

The Daily Mail was forced to correct its original article, which wrongly accused the retailer of failing to highlight that some of it’s ‘Butcher’s Selection’ Hereford beef was from Uruguay, after the NFU claimed Asda was taking away business from British farmers. A spokesman for Asda said: “We make clear on the packaging that the product is ‘Produced in Uruguay’, not just the URU codes as the Mail and the NFU wrongly highlighted. The small proportion of beef we import from Uruguay is pure-bred Hereford.
However, we are amending the labels to be clearer.”

The article also raised questions over the production methods in Uruguay, with one statement claiming:

“The practice in South America is to cross-breed cattle with other hardy types, such as the Zebu, in order for them to thrive in the  often hot conditions. It is not known if that is the case here.”

That attack has provoked anger in Uruguay, and one leading processor has hit back. Terry Johnson, who run Breeders & Packers Uruguay, described the article as “unbalanced and unfair with no research on the subject”. He pointed out that Uruguayan farming methods were of the same standard as British farm assurance schemes and full traceability.

“The beef herd is predominantly Hereford, with Angus in smaller numbers. There are small feed lots, but 85% of Uruguayan beef is naturally reared, with the equivalent space of three football fields to one animal.”

He defended the use of imported meat in the UK: “Only certain cuts of beef are imported by Asda for this programme and only in the seasons when consumption is high and there is a shortage. The programme has been devised as a balance to complement the sale of British beef.

“With a massive world shortage of beef and protein, common sense would say that a dedicated, traceable chain with all UK specification, farm assurance and welfare values, would make complete sense to the consumer and farmers alike. Articles like this can be so damaging to a small emerging country that is doing an outstanding job.”

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