Dutch meat processor executives arrested in unsafe meat probe; Firm files for bankruptcy

Esro Vlees, a meat processing company in Nuenen, has filed for bankruptcy after the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) revoked its operating license due to suspicions that the firm traded unsafe meat. Two directors and a manager were arrested.

The NVWA alleges that Esro Vlees processed portions of cattle unfit for human consumption. The regulator also suspects the company of processing spoiled meat at times and supplying minced meat from cattle heads to businesses that lacked the required authorization to handle it.

Company management called the NVWA’s intervention disproportionate because authorities shut down the entire operation without prior judicial review. The action made bankruptcy “inevitable,” the directors said.

“Due to this bankruptcy, approximately 60 employees will lose their jobs, as well as more than 100 temporary workers,” the company wrote on its website. Other companies in the Esro Food Group have not filed for bankruptcy.