Hindu Council UK Condemns use of Beef and Pork in Chicken Products
London, 8 June 2009

The Hindu Council UK (HCUK) has reacted with shock and disgust to the news that food manufacturers in three EU states have used bulking agents made from pork and beef bones and gristle to inflate chicken breasts, before selling them on to the UK market at a higher price. The news, confirmed following tests run by the Food Standards Authority (FSA), means any one of Britain's 600,000 plus Hindus ' forbidden by their religion to eat beef ' may have unwittingly done so in cafes and restaurants across the country in at least the last two years.

On hearing the news, Anil Bhanot, General Secretary of the HCUK said:"'For many Hindus, to eat beef is as bad as cannibalism. All branches of Hinduism revere cows because they give milk to humanity, as a mother does to her child. The companies who hoodwinked us by not fully disclosing the nature of the ingredients they have used to plump up chickens artificially ought to be reprimanded through all legal channels, and also made to give up part of their profits to good causes. At least then any Hindu who has unknowingly eaten these chicken products will feel some degree of cleansing."

The companies managed to get away with their actions because the pork and beef additives had been so highly processed they did not show up in standard tests. It wasn't until the FSA developed new, highly sophisticated tests that the swindle came to light.

New study highlights undeclared ingredients in chicken products

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) had carried out an exploratory study into injection powders used to retain water in chicken breast products supplied mainly to the catering trade. Water can be added to chicken products by manufacturers for a number of reasons, for example to improve the succulence of the meat. Adding water to chicken is permitted, but where the water content is greater than 5%, water must be declared in the name of the food and listed as an ingredient. Fresh chicken meat that you buy from supermarkets or butchers cannot have any ingredients, including water, deliberately added to it.

The agents used to hold added water in chicken can include salt, phosphates and hydrolysed animal proteins; these are supplied to manufacturers in mixtures as injection powders. When water retaining agents are used, they must be described accurately on the label.

The FSA’s snapshot study looked at a small number of injection powders that claimed to contain only chicken protein. Analysis using a new approach developed under the Agency’s authenticity programme indicated that proteins from beef or pork were also present in some of the samples. Hydrolysed pork and beef proteins can be used as water retaining agents in chicken as long as they are properly labelled. Use of these proteins does not make chicken products unsafe, but it is important that people are given accurate information about their food.

The FSA has now advised Hindus to avoid chicken products labelled as containing 'hydrolised (chicken) proteins,' and to ask in restaurants whether chicken products contain hydrolysed animal proteins.

About the Hindu Council UK

The Hindu Council UK is the representative umbrella body for the British Hindu community. It operates under a mandate from the Hindu public established in 1994. It is the only British Hindu body co-ordinating all the different schools of Hindu theology within the UK. For more information visit www.hinducounciluk.org

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