Retailers responsible for integrity of their food

The Department of Agriculture said that the primary responsibility for the safety and integrity of food placed on the market lay with food business operators (FBO).

The comments follow the findings of a British investigation into the January 2013 horse meat scandal.

The British government-commissioned report, issued yesterday, called for the formation of a food crime prevention network which would involve unannounced audits and a zero-tolerance approach to protect consumers from any more incidents like the horse meat scandal.