As the scale of the Brazilian meat scandal causes shockwaves around the world, the European unio, China and Chile suspend meat and poultry imports as the country faces stiff backlash to the scandal involving meat-packers who have been selling rotten and substandard produce for several years. And the entire country’s meat industry is coming under the spotlight as importing countries as well as Brazilian meat eaters learn more about the adulterated meat scandal.

Following the launch of a federal investigation, the Brazilian government is doing all it can to reassure importers that it’s meat is safe with President Michel Temer leading emergency meetings over the last few days to decide how to handle the situation and avoid either a partial or total ban on meat imports.

But this wasn’t enough to stop the EU and China, South Korea and Chile announcing full or partial suspensions of meat and chicken shipments from the Latin American nation, yesterday (Mar 20).

Reports say these three countries accounted for around one third of all Brazilian meat imports last year.

Fears are mounting in Brazil that the scale of the scandal will seriously damage the reputation of the country’s meat and poultry industry in the long term, adding to the already struggling economy - Brazil has officially been in Recession since 2014.

Police allege 21 companies paid bribes to government inspectors to get health certification and official clearance, although the companies involved deny any wrongdoing.

Two large companies are involved in the scandal; JBS, the world’s largest, by sales, meat processing company, producing factory processed beef, chicken and pork as well as selling meat by-products. It is headquartered in Sao Paulo and established since 1953.

BRF is a Brazilian food conglomerate, producing animal proteins, processed foods, margarine, pastas, frozen pizzas and vegetables.

The operation, named “Weak Flesh”, began late last week and is the result of a two-year investigation by Federal police. It spans six Brazilian states. Police raided 194 locations involving more than 1,000 officers.

More than 30 senior civil servants have also been suspended in connection with corruption and three meat-packing plants have been closed and a further 21 are being investigated.

Several arrests have also been made.

In response to the Brazilian meat scandal, Vicki Hird, Farm Campaign Coordinator of Sustain comments: “The rot exposed at the heart of the Brazilian meat processing industry illustrates well the dangerous impact of a cheap meat supply which drives demand domestically and globally.”

"Whilst this huge case of fraud and corruption shows that controls and enforcement of safety regulations were inadequate, it also demonstrates how easy it is for massive operations combined with long and complex supply chains to result in huge public health risks.”

“The UK is highly likely to have imported some of the meat treated illegally with chemicals to hide the contamination. Whilst meat can be highly nutritious, clearly this kind of production and supply chain benefits no one but a few corporates and should be ended.

“We need to invest in less and better meat supplies largely based on low impact and high animal welfare systems as close to the market as possible to avoid contamination and risk of disease and fraud.”
The Brazilian government is trying to contain the fallout from the scandal, claiming this involves “isolated cases” in an otherwise heavily regulated industry which has high standards.

“In 2016 alone, Brazil sent over 853,000 shipments of animal products to other countries. Of those, only 184 were considered to be non-compliant by their importers, often not because of health issues but rather due to incorrect labeling or incorrectly filled forms or certificates,” a government statement says.