Μαπία Σακελλαπίος

1. Crisis Management Lab
Aldi : The Horsemeat Scandal
This project is talking about “Aldi”, a chain of supermarket stores
that was involved in the horsemeat scandal, which was revealed to
the public in early 2013. At that time, foods advertised as containing
beef were found to contain undeclared horsemeat, as much as 100%
of the meat content in some cases. Although, horsemeat is not
harmful to health, the particular horses were previously drugged and
their meat contained dangerous painkillers for humans, such as
phenylbutazone. Many countries were affected by the scandal, such
as France, the U.K , Romania, Netherlands and Cyprus. Right after
the scandal, “Aldi” proceeded to tests about the meat and said that
they feel very angry and let down by their French
suppliers, “Comigel”. Unsurprisingly, the sales dropped, but despite
the scare, shoppers had just switched to different products and the
supermarket didn’t lose costumers.

2. The Horsemeat Scandal

3. The Label
Chain of supermarket stores that was included
in the large catalog of food supplier brands
that are involved in the horsemeat scandal that
was revealed to the public in January 2013.

4. The scandal
• The 2013 meat adulteration scandal is still
ongoing in Europe; foods advertised as
containing beef were found to contain
undeclared horse meat, as much as 100% of
the meat content in some cases,[1] and other
undeclared meats, such as pork.[2] The issue
came to light on 15 January 2013, when it was
reported that horse DNA had been discovered
in frozen beefburgers sold in several Irish and
British supermarkets. While horse meat is not
harmful to health and is eaten in many
countries, it is considered a taboo food in many
countries including the UK and Ireland, in
addition to being a lower-cost ingredient than
beef.

5. The scandal
• The Food Safety Authority of Ireland says beefburgers
with traces of equine DNA, including one product classed
as 29% horse, are being supplied to supermarkets by
Silvercrest Foods in Ireland and Dalepak Hambleton in
Yorkshire, subsidiaries of the ABP Food Group.
• Ten million burgers are taken off the shelves, by
retailers including Tesco, Lidl, Aldi, Iceland and Dunnes
Stores.
• The story may now involve as many as 16 European
countries. In response to the growing evidence
for widespread mislabelling, the EU Health
Commissioner Tonio Borg has now urged all EU member
states to implement random DNA testing of
processed beef products, for a three-month period
beginning March 1.

6. More like an Economical scandal
 The issue is economic rather than
nutritional. People eat meat because they
enjoy it – they enjoy the texture and the
flavour. Often people become accustomed
to the flavour of the meat they eat, so
horse meat may taste different, possibly
“gamey”, but it’s easy to become
accustomed to this. Horse meat is
generally very lean but otherwise
nutritionally similar to beef or sheep. It’s
a good source of protein, vitamins,
minerals (especially iron) and healthy
fatty acids (omega-3).

7. Than a health issue
 The human body responds differently to such
drugs (painkillers) compared to horses, we get
into dangerous territory for human health.
 The substance causing the most concern
is phenylbutazone, an anti-inflammatory drug
given to horses for the treatment of lameness,
pain and fever. It’s no longer used to treat
humans and is not supposed to enter the food
chain because it may cause a range of side
effects. Some of these are quite serious, such as
aplastic anaemia (bone marrow failure) in some
people. But authorities in the United Kingdom
have declared the illegal horse meat in the food
safe to eat.

8. The suppliers involved
 The Aldi beef goulash is made my German
manufacturer Dreistern-Konserven ,while
the cucina ravioli are made my BLM also
from Germany.In a statemen Dreisten
said the goulash was safe and had been
withdrawn as a precaution only. It was
possible the traces of horse DNA that had
been found into the product through
cross-contamination at slaughterhouses
or in transport containers, it suggested.
“We strongly regret that –despite our
constant quality control checks- this
incident occurred.”, the company said .

9. Countries affected and reaction
 PARIS/LONDON (Reuters) - The French and
British governments promised on Saturday to
punish those found responsible for selling
horsemeat in beef products at the heart of a
growing scandal that started in Britain but is
quickly spreading to France.
 French Consumer Affairs Minister Benoit Hamon
said an investigation had found that the
horsemeat had originated in Romania, although
there werelinks with French, Dutch and Cypriot
firms and a factory in Luxembourg.

10. Countries affected and reaction
 British environment minister Owen Paterson said
more cases of contaminated food could emerge as
British retailers conducted tests forhorsemeat on
processed beef products. The scandal threatens
to affectconsumer confidence in Europe's giant
food industry, with pressure rising forgreater
checks.The British unit of frozen foods group
Findus began a recall this week of itsbeef lasagne
from retailers on advice from its French supplier,
Comigel, overconcerns that some packs contained
high levels of horsemeat.
 Findus France said it too had recalled lasagne and
two other products afterdiscovering that they
included horsemeat from Romania rather than
beef from France as it had thought.

11. Countries affected and reactions
 Romanian authorities said they would
punish any violations if the reportswere
confirmed. "The agriculture ministry and
food safety authority will try to identify as
soon as possible whether the (meat)
comes from Romania. If legislation was
broken, they will punish such practices
that damage the image of the entire
industry," Romania's agriculture ministry
said.

12. Countries affected and reactions
 Britain's government is under pressure to appear on
top of the scandal, which comes less than a month
after supermarket chain Tesco and fast food outlet
Burger King found horsemeat in beef burgers from an
Irish supplier. Britons generally do not eat horsemeat,
regarding its consumption as a quirk of French
appetites. However, the meat has also fallen out of
favour with consumers in France.
 The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety
Authorityconfirmed on Tuesday February 12 that Dutch
supermarket chainsincluding PLUS and Boni had
withdrawn Primafrost brand lasagne from their shelves,
while its authenticity was investigated. A spokeswoman
said it was a preemptive measure.

13. Sales drop
 Sales of frozen burgers have plummeted by
almost half since the horsemeat contamination
scandal erupted, new retail figures show.
 Frozen ready meal sales have also fallen by 13
per cent across the UK since the first evidence of
horsemeat being used in beef products emerged
in January. According to the latest grocery share
figures from consumer experts Kantar
Worldpanel, sales of frozen burgers fell by 43 per
cent in the first five weeks of the horsemeat
scandal.
 But the survey has also shown that, despite the
scare, major supermarkets have not lost
customers. Shoppers have simply switched to
different products.

14. Function
how the crisis was managed by the
company after the outbreak (What
did they do)

15. Communication
Announcements-Apologies-Statements
 Aldi announced its stores in the UK are recalling Today’s
Special Frozen Beef Lasagna and Today’s Special Frozen
Spaghetti Bolognese after finding horse meat in some
samples. Aldi said it tested and found the meat content of
some of its beef lasagna products had between 30 percent
and 100 percent horse meat. This is in addition to previous
findings that Findus frozen beef lasagna contained more
than 60 percent horse meat, and Tesco’s frozen beef
burgers also tested positive for about 29 percent horse
meat.
 Aldi issued statements saying they are boosting testing on
meat products to protect customers, restore confidence and
ensure product quality.
 As supermarkets and suppliers prepare to meet to discuss
the food labelling scandal, the company said it felt "angry
and let down" by its French supplier Comigel, which also
produced the contaminated Findus beef lasagnes.

16. Communication
 An Aldi spokesman said: "Tests have been
completed that show horse meat in the withdrawn
products. In samples selected at random, tests
demonstrated that the withdrawn products
contained between 30% and 100% horse meat.
 Anyone who has bought the affected products can
receive a full refund, Aldi said.The company
added that it would test the meals for the
veterinary drug phenylbutazone, often referred to
as "bute", but said it was "confident" the meals
were safe.
 "Aldi will not tolerate any supplier who fails to
comply with our requirements and we will support
any appropriate legal action taken against any
supplier that knowingly does wrong."

17. Sources
 www.meatpoultry.com
 http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk
 http://www.thegrocer.co.uk
 http://theconversation.edu.au
 http://www.scotsman.com
 http://www.irishtimes.com
 http://www.cnn.com
By Forbidden

18. Crisis Management Lab
Teachers:
 Ms. Tsakarestou
 Ms. Xenou

19. The Team: 4bidden
 Αλεξάνδπα Αλιβιδάηος
 Γάθνε Αλεξιάδος
 Δλεάννα Βογιαηδάκε
 Ιωζήθ Παπαδόποςλορ
 Κοπίνα Παπανηωνίος
 Λιούμπε Καπαγεώπγος
 Τζούθε Χπιζηιάννα