Tesco

Exterior of a Tesco supermarket in Kraków, Poland

What Was the Accusation?

Tesco faced a major food-authenticity and supply-chain controversy in January 2013 after testing by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland found horse DNA in frozen beef burgers sold by several retailers in Ireland and the United Kingdom. The FSAI tested 27 beef burger products and detected horse DNA in 10. Nine contained relatively low levels, but one Tesco Everyday Value beef burger manufactured by Silvercrest Foods produced a substantially different result: the amount of horse DNA was estimated at approximately 29% relative to the beef DNA. The discovery meant that consumers had purchased a product labeled and marketed as beef that contained a significant quantity of meat from another animal. Although authorities initially treated the discovery as a food-authenticity issue rather than an immediate food-safety threat, the findings raised serious questions about labeling, traceability, supplier oversight, and the integrity of the European meat supply chain.

Tesco responded publicly on January 15 and 16. The company removed affected products from sale, offered refunds, apologized to customers, and promised to investigate how the contamination occurred. The affected Tesco products included Everyday Value frozen beef burgers and frozen beef quarter pounders, along with a branded Flamehouse product. Tesco told customers that the presence of undeclared horsemeat was unacceptable even though the FSAI had said the products did not present a public-health risk. Newspaper advertisements carrying Tesco’s apology acknowledged that the company and its supplier had let customers down and promised that Tesco would determine what had happened and report its findings.

On January 30, Tesco Group Technical Director Tim Smith announced the results of the company’s investigation. Tesco said Silvercrest had used meat that did not come from the approved suppliers specified by Tesco and that the meat had not come exclusively from the United Kingdom and Ireland as Tesco had required. Tesco consequently ended its relationship with Silvercrest. At the same time, Smith did not place responsibility entirely on the supplier. He explicitly accepted Tesco’s responsibility for the food it sold and acknowledged that the company’s existing controls had failed to prevent the problem. Tesco announced that it would introduce comprehensive DNA testing across its meat products as an additional safeguard. The response therefore combined an apology and acceptance of corporate responsibility with an explanation of the supplier’s alleged breach and a promise of corrective action intended to restore consumer confidence in Tesco’s labeling and supply-chain controls.

Key Apologia Strategies:

Mortification, Corrective Action, Shifting Blame, Bolstering, Minimization

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Transcript

Tesco’s January 16, 2013 apology:

You have probably read or heard that we have had a serious problem with three frozen beef burger products that we sell in stores in the UK and Ireland.

We have shared the following message with our customers:

We apologise.

You have probably read or heard that we have had a serious problem with three frozen beef burger products that we sell in stores in the UK and Ireland.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has told us that a number of products they have recently tested from one of our suppliers contained horsemeat.

While the FSAI has said that the products pose no risk to public health, we appreciate that, like us, our customers will find this absolutely unacceptable.

The products in our stores were Tesco Everyday Value 8 x Frozen Beef Burgers (397g), Tesco 4 x Frozen Beef Quarter Pounders (454g) and a branded product, Flamehouse Frozen Chargrilled Quarter Pounders.

We have immediately withdrawn from sale all products from the supplier in question, from all our stores and online.

If you have any of these products at home, you can take them back to any of our stores at any time and get a full refund. You will not need a receipt and you can just bring back the packaging.

We and our supplier have let you down and we apologise.

If you have any concerns, you can find out how to contact us at the bottom of this page, or go to any of our customer service desks in-store, or ask to speak to your local Store Manager.

So here’s our promise. We will find out exactly what happened and, when we do, we’ll come back and tell you.

And we will work harder than ever with all our suppliers to make sure this never happens again.

Excerpt from Tesco’s January 30, 2013 statement on its investigation:

Tim Smith, Group Technical Director at Tesco comments:

“Today we were informed that the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has found that a number of beef products they have recently tested contained horse DNA. These included two frozen beef burger products sold by Tesco in both the UK and Ireland. Products sold at other retailers were also discovered to contain horse DNA.

“We immediately withdrew from sale all products from the supplier in question. We are working with the authorities in Ireland and the UK, and with the supplier concerned, to urgently understand how this has happened and how to ensure it does not happen again. We will not take any products from this site until the conclusion and satisfactory resolution of an investigation.

“The safety and quality of our food is of the highest importance to Tesco. We will not tolerate any compromise in the quality of the food we sell. The presence of illegal meat in our products is extremely serious. Our customers have the right to expect that food they buy is produced to the highest standards.

“The relevant authorities have said that these findings pose no risk to public health. We understand that many of our customers will be concerned by this news, and we apologise sincerely for any distress. Our customer service team is standing by to answer any questions customers may have.”

Sources

Food Safety Authority of Ireland. (2013). Annual report 2013. https://www.fsai.ie/getmedia/6603dced-ed3e-4e85-8167-c01e5def384e/annual-report-2013-final-accessible%281%29.pdf?ext=.pdf

Lawrence, F., & Meikle, J. (2013, January 17). Horsemeat scandal: Watchdog to test all beef products at UK supermarkets. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jan/17/horsemeat-scandal-watchdog-test-beef

Meikle, J., & Lawrence, F. (2013, January 30). Tesco drops Irish supplier over horsemeat scandal. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/jan/30/horsemeat-scandal-tesco-drops-supplier

Meikle, J., McDonald, H., & Smithers, R. (2013, January 16). Horsemeat in frozen burgers prompts urgent inquiry by food watchdogs. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/jan/16/horse-meat-burgers-urgent-inquiry

Quinn, B. (2013, January 16). Horsemeat discovered in burgers sold by four British supermarkets. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jan/16/horsemeat-burgers-supermarkets

Tesco PLC. (2013, January 16). An apology from Tesco. https://www.tescoplc.com/an-apology-from-tesco/

Tesco PLC. (2013, January 30). Tesco statement on investigation into meat contamination. https://www.tescoplc.com/tesco-statement-on-investigation-into-meat-contamination/

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