A UK supermarket chain is being investigated for selling South American beef and claiming it was British.
The supermarket is being investigated by the National Food Crime Unit, which is part of the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
Their investigation found products including mince, burgers and steak were being sold to shoppers as “best British beef”, despite it being imported from South America.
The supermarket has pulled the products from its shelves already.
The FSA has not confirmed which supermarket is being investigated over fears it could “jeopardise the investigation and any future proceedings”.
The Sun has reported that Tesco, Sainsbury’s Asda, Aldi, Morrisons, Lidl, Co-op, M&S, Waitrose and Iceland have all confirmed they are not the supermarket being investigated.
Andrew Quinn, deputy head of the National Food Crime Unit, said: “The FSA’s National Food Crime Unit is investigating how one UK retailer was supplied with pre-packed meat and deli products labelled as British when they were in fact sourced from South America and Europe.
“The retailer was notified on the same day that we took action against the food business suspected of the fraud and immediately removed all affected products from their shelves.
"The retailer continues to work closely and cooperatively with the NFCU investigation to progress the case against the supplier.
"This is not a food safety issue but a matter of food fraud.
“Any fraud investigations of this nature take time to go through evidence and bring to any outcome, including any potential prosecution. We take food fraud very seriously and are acting urgently to protect the consumer.”
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