Mislabeled Meat in South Africa Widens Scandal

What began in the EU as the now infamous horsemeat debacle has revealed an even larger, international problem: mislabeled food containing questionable ingredients. South Africa made headlines as the most recent country to sell misrepresented food to unsuspecting consumers. Businessweek reports donkey, water buffalo, and goat meat have found their way into up to 68 percent of meat products tested by Stellenbosch University researchers. Items purchased from grocery stores and butcher shops were among the investigated––with deli meats, sausage, and burgers ranking the highest for ingredient misidentification. The South African incident raises red flags for those who suffer from food allergies as several products contained undeclared soy and gluten.