British food watchdog probes reports meat found in vegetarian meals

The FSA said its priority was to ensure that consumers could be confident that the food they eat is what it says it is

Britain’s food watchdog said it was investigating allegations that traces of meat had been found in “meat-free” and vegan meals sold at the country’s two largest supermarket chains, Tesco and Sainsbury’s.

“We are investigating the circumstances surrounding these alleged incidents and any resulting action will depend upon the evidence found,” the Food Standards Agency (FSA) said in an email on Saturday.

The FSA statement followed a report in The Daily Telegraph, which said an investigation by the newspaper had detected traces of turkey in a Tesco vegan macaroni ready meal and traces of pork in Sainsbury’s “meat-free” meatballs.

Sales of vegetarian and vegan