Warning over 300kg of smuggled MEAT linked to highly contagious virus,
Officials have seized more than 300kg of potentially contaminated illegal meat smuggled into London, food safety chiefs revealed today.
The suspect meat and dozens of packets of dried noodles containing banned Chinese pork were seized by Westminster City Council officers.
Meat imported legally into the UK must pass stringent health checks to ensure it is safe, but smuggled goods dodges these.
The haul, which included vacuum-sealed chicken slices, marinated pork and sliced beef, was seized during routine visits to restaurants and stores in the capital’s China Town.
While the products were clearly labelled, there was nothing on the packaging that could trace it back to a registered supplier in the UK, officers said.
Under UK law, pork cannot also be imported from China due to the potential risk of African Swine Fever.
Although harmless to humans, the highly contagious virus can be fatal to pigs and has caused havoc to herds across the globe.
It comes as a damning Government report last month also warned that ‘alarming amounts’ of illegal meat were being smuggled into the country and Britain was ‘sleepwalking into its biggest food safety crisis since the horsemeat scandal’.
Earlier this year, British tourists were banned from bringing cured meats and cheeses back into the UK from Europe, because of an outbreak of foot and mouth disease on the continent.
Westminster City Council deputy leader and cabinet member for public protection, Aicha Less, said: ‘Millions of people visit Westminster to eat out, and our job as a local authority is to ensure that diners enjoy food that is safe.
‘That means knowing the origin of imported food — you cannot have mystery meat showing up in restaurant kitchens with no real idea of where it has come from.
‘The meat we found was clearly intended for food businesses including Westminster restaurants.
‘As well as a threat to humans, illegal food products are also a risk to livestock.
‘Animal swine fever, even in prepackaged food products, can prove contagious and we need to stop any possibility of it spreading.
‘Our environmental health teams will continue to ensure people visiting restaurants in the West End can have a safe and enjoyable experience.’
The 300kg of meat was uncovered by officers during inspections on the affluent Wardour and Lisle Streets.
In a separate incident, officers acting on a tip-off from the Food Standards Agency, also confiscated 75 packets of flavoured dried noodles weighing over 18kg at a business in Gerrard Street.
The noodles contained banned pork imported from China and listed pig bone and pork oil as ingredients.
They were seized, sealed and sent for incineration.
African swine fever is a highly contagious viral disease of pigs and is different from classical swine fever and swine influenza.
It is not harmful to humans, but can cause haemorrhagic fever in domesticated pigs and wild boars that almost always ends in death within a few days.
China produces almost 700 million pigs a year, or about half of the world’s total.
Cases of African swine fever have been recorded across Europe, Russia, East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation.
