Nuenen meat firm raided over alleged sale of unsafe and unfit meat; Three arrests
Two directors and a manager of a meat processing company in Nuenen, in the province of Noord-Brabant, were arrested on Thursday over allegations that the firm traded unsafe and unfit meat. The company is also suspected of document fraud. The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) has immediately withdrawn the company’s approval.
The arrests were made by the NVWA’s Intelligence and Investigation Service (NVWA-IOD). The company is suspected of processing cattle that were unfit for human consumption and of handling meat that was sometimes already spoiled. Authorities believe documents were falsified in an effort to cover up the illegal activities.
The NVWA describes the case as “meat fraud.” As a precautionary measure, bank accounts, cars, and trucks have been seized, allowing any illegal profits to be confiscated if a conviction follows. Investigators have also confiscated company records to help substantiate the suspected fraud.
The company in question was permitted to process beef heads into minced meat, on the condition that the meat would only be sold to licensed businesses for further use in food production. However, the NVWA suspects that it also supplied customers without the required approval.
The NVWA has frozen the company’s stock of frozen meat, meaning it can no longer be processed or sold. Any fresh meat present at the premises will be destroyed.
