Brazil, the world’s biggest beef and poultry exporter, has been hit allegations of corrupt practices in its meat industry. Police have halted exports by 21 meat processers suspected of bribing inspectors to issue them bogus health certificates for rotten meat.
One of the most eye-popping allegations came in a press conference by police investigators who said some meat processing plants had been using “carcinogenic products”. Police also released a summary of a conversation between an investigator and the plant’s owner in which the latter showed “no surprise” at the labels being switched on an entire shipment of pork, or the reprocessing of months-old meat for use in other food products.
Another shocking allegation is that chicken was mixed with cardboard, as one employee appeared to say in another intercepted phone call.
European countries are wary about opening up the EU meat market to countries in the South American Mercosur bloc, which includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.