FROZEN meals containing horsemeat may be given to the needy.
FROZEN meals containing horsemeat may be given to the needy.
Charities have put up their hands to claim meals that have been yanked from retail shelves as the growing horsemeat scandal engulfs Europe.
Three French charities say they’re prepared to hand out thousands of frozen dinners that contain horsemeat.
Six French supermarkets have recalled - or are planning to recall - ready-made meals found to contain horsemeat, despite being labelled as beef.
The charities, Restos du Coeur (Restaurants with Heart), Secours Populaire (People Rescue) and Banque Alimentaire (The Food Bank) want to get hold of the meals and re-distribute them among their clients.
The three charities met last week to try to work out a plan of action, according to English-language French newspaper The Local.
''Above all, these cannot be thrown out. If the meals are safe, we will take them,'' a branch manager from Secours Populaire told Europe 1 radio.
Philippe Le Mescam, head of the Brittany branch of Restos du Coeur said, ''It would be scandalous to destroy all these tonnes of food, if tests show that they don’t pose a health risk.''
The meals would also have to be re-labelled before being handed out, as their packaging wrongly suggests they only contain beef.
A spokeswoman for Restos du Coeur said the charity wouldn't accept meals for the moment, saying there were many health issues to be sorted out before they could be redistributed.
''Our goal is to fight waste. These products are now in storage, awaiting some sort of resolution. So if they can’t be sold, we could take them and distribute them to deprived people,'' said director of the French Federation of Food Banks, Maurice Lony.
The food scandal began on January 15 when horse DNA was discovered in frozen beef burgers sold in Irish and British supermarkets.
Further investigations revealed horsemeat was also in frozen packaged beef lasagna and spaghetti bolognese as well as meatballs. The meat has been traced to European abattoirs.
含有马肉的冷冻肉可能将被发放给穷人。
随着愈演愈烈的马肉风波席卷整个欧洲，已有慈善团体表示申领这些从零售超市下架的马肉。
三家法国慈善团体表示将把含有马肉的数千份冷冻食品发放出去。
六家法国超市已经召回——或打算召回——发现含有马肉（虽然标签为牛肉）的即食肉制品。
“爱心饭店”、“人民救援”与“食品银行”三家法国慈善团体打算申领这些肉制品，然后再将其分发给资助对象。
据法国一家英语报纸The Local报道，这三家慈善团体上周末进行了碰面，力求制定一份行动计划。
“最重要的是，不能将这些肉制品统统扔掉。如果这些肉制品可安全食用，我们将要申领”，“人民救援”的一个分支的负责人接受欧洲一台采访时说道。
“爱心饭店”慈善组织布列塔尼分支负责人菲利普·勒·梅斯堪姆表示，“如果检测结果显示这些食品不会对健康构成威胁，那么将这些重达数吨的食品摧毁就太丢脸了”。
由于弄错的包装上说明仅含有牛肉，这些肉制品在被分发前将会重新贴上标签。
“爱心饭店”组织的一位女发言人称该慈善团体眼下不会接受这些肉制品，她表示这些肉制品在分发前还有诸多健康问题需要解决。
“我们的目标是消灭浪费。这些肉制品现在都已储存起来，等待解决办法的出炉。所以，如果这些肉制品不能出售，我们就会买来分发给困难群众，”法国食品银行联合会会长毛里斯·罗尼如是说。
这一食品丑闻肇始于今年1月15号，当时在爱尔兰和英国超市销售的冷冻牛肉汉堡中发现了马肉DNA。
进一步的调查发现，冷冻包装牛肉千层面、意大利番茄牛肉面以及肉丸中均含有马肉。经追查这些马肉来自欧洲的几家屠宰场。