More smuggle illegal meat
FOREIGNERS smuggling meat and dairy foods into Britain are on the increase, new figures show.
At least 50 a day are caught at airports and docks smuggling in foods that are a “taste of home”.
Any one of them could be importing viruses like salmonella or a raft of diseases that are deadly to humans and livestock.
Just one infected sandwich could spark an epidemic.
The Government has launched an awareness-raising programme among ethnic communities after figures showed a 14 per cent rise in seized meats last year.
Of the 86 tons of foods seized by authorities, more than half the 21,267 items contained meat.
There was also a 45 per cent rise in smuggled dairy products.
Last night Food Minister Jim Paice said: “People bring back these items for a ‘taste of home’ but most of these foods can now be purchased in British shops and have passed safety standards.”
Illegal meat is believed to have caused the £6billion foot-and-mouth outbreak in 2001.
Seven million British farm animals had to be slaughtered.