The horse meat scandal: strengthen labour standards to secure food safety

In the wake of the horse meat scandal and the risk to food safety admitted by the UK Environment Secretary, the UK Food Safety Authority (FSA) admitted that it was highly likely that there had been criminal and fraudulent activity in the meat supply chain. While the authorities ponder testing regimes, the IUF calls on employers and Governments to tackle the real cause of the problem – low pay, contract labour, unscrupulous employers, fear, loathing and desperation. Food safety standards go hand in hand with labour standards.Workers organised into unions and collective bargaining backed up by strong legislation will set the standards to enable food safety to be appropriately monitored by workers who will have the confidence and security to speak out on fraudulent and criminal activity.