Horse meat row: Officials keeping a close watch

The horse meat scandal that is spreading in Europe has prompted authorities in Dubai to take precautions to ensure the safety of the processed meat products imported to the emirate. Following the detection of horse meat in beef burgers, many European countries have withdrawn meat products from the markets. European Union-wide tests have been proposed to make sure a drug given to horses which can be dangerous to humans — known as bute (phenylbutazone) — has not entered the food chain. According to latest reports, it is feared that 16 EU countries may be affected. Though officials here do not foresee any health risk in the UAE, they do not want to take any chances in the matter of food safety. While the Food Control Department of the Dubai Municipality has been closely monitoring the international developments, the Dubai Central Laboratory (DCL), also under the civic body, is gearing up to conduct advanced tests on meat products to check for any adulteration. A senior official with the Food and Environment Section of the DCL said the lab has the capacity to detect meat adulteration in different fresh and cooked meat products from Dubai markets using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) – Gel Electrophoresis Technique. Conducted by the Food Microbiology Analysis Unit, the test is designed to investigate the presence of six different meat species (cow, pork, chicken, horse, goat and sheep) commonly used in processed meat products. “But, we do not have the kits for detecting the DNA of horse. So, we have placed orders for PCR kits to detect horse meat in meat products,” principal food microbiology specialist, Munira Al AlSayegh, told Khaleej Times. She said the kits were expected to arrive in a week’s time, following which more specific tests would be conducted on processed meat products, especially the ones that have been found to be adulterated in Europe. “Three years ago, we had found chicken meat mixed with a beef product which was immediately withdrawn. That is the only time we found some adulteration in the meat products here,” said Al Sayegh. Asia Abdulwahab Alraeesi, who heads the Food Studies and Planning at the DM Food Control Department, said the department has already made sure that none of the affected meat products are imported to Dubai. “There are some other products like frozen seafood and vegetables imported by one of the companies named in Europe. But they are not importing any meat product to Dubai.” The official said there are strict quality checks and labeling procedures in place for all imported and locally manufactured meat products. “It is a must for the manufacturers to clearly mention the place of origin and the species of the meat. They cannot even mix same species from different countries. That is a violation.” Considering the miniscule volume of meat imports from the affected European countries, Alraeesi said there was no reason for the consumers here to panic. - Khaleejtimes.com