Mumsnet Talk

There is always the same goods-in procedure at any manufacturing plant. Someone has to take receipt and sign off on the delivery note. Someone has to QC it to make sure it meets the standards or it gets rejected, returned & the supplier doesn't get paid or has to replace it.

For example.... Mr Bent Supplier has a pile of old horsemeat but wants to get beef money for it. He offers the goods-in/QC inspection team a cash incentive if they'll sign it off as beef and make sure it gets through to the beefburger production line no questions asked. After that point, minced extruded horse looks and performs very much like minced extruded beef so it's not picked up in bacteria tests etc. anywhere else in the chain. DNA test spots the con.

AAAh so each manufacturer and abbatoir? in the E.U. and G.B. has its own inspection team?

Yes. The regulations and practices are different depending on whether the plant is a primary producer (abattoir) or a processing facility but all places where food is involved have quality inspection whether they are manhandling real, live pigs, mass-producing sandwiches or shrink-wrapping broccoli.

Thanks Cogito that is fascinating.