Despite recent headlines where horse and pig DNA has been found in contaminated foodstuffs where they have no place, today it has been reported that Findus’ range of lasagne has found to be 100% horse meat. You would imagine that recent allegations and the guilty suppliers credibility in tatters, the food industry would have taken a long hard look at their own sources and acted with due diligence. Now the Food Standards Agency ( not the financial services authority!) will need to be decisive and act in a manner that will send a clear message to the food and drink industry that this is wholly unacceptable.

Is it possible that manufacturers take a relaxed attitude? Will they rely on their commercial insurance policies to bail them out? Yes, food manufacturers insurance policies should have cheap product liability and even provision for product recall but it is extremely difficult to recover from such devastating press. Just ask Gerald Ratner.

Indeed, there are products and services that the food industry can utilise minimise exposure – maintaining a program of testing by third party firms and employing the services on the legal side such as Legal Impackt.

The food industry and the FSA need to take action now to avoid government intervention and even worse, a disgraced name both in the EU and worldwide