Ground beef on sale in branches of the French-owned supermarket chain Auchan were found to contain the DNA of pork, chicken and lamb.
Similarly, beef, chicken and lamb were detected in samples of ground pork. The watchdog agency also identified traces of pork in beef and lamb kebabs.
The Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance reported that in 15 of the 17 samples analyzed, the ingredients written on the label did not correspond to the real content. It claimed that 89 percent of the raw meat material inspected was incorrectly labeled.
The agency’s statement called the products “counterfeit”, made by substituting cheaper meat for more expensive ingredients listed on the packaging.
Auchan told OCCRP it had not yet received the test results from Russian authorities. But a spokeswoman said that modern meat-testing techniques are so sensitive they can detect DNA of a particular animal when there is only a trace present – for example, from gloves or a knife.
She added that more laboratory work is needed, and that Auchan will conduct an internal inquiry.
A press release posted on Rosselkhoznadzor’s website earlier Tuesday also claimed to have found horse DNA in Auchan’s ground pork, but that press release was later taken down.
Rosselkhoznadzor explained later to OCCRP that since the levels of horse DNA detected were “rather low,” experts will double-check the findings.
In 2013, a fake meat scandal rocked Europe after it emerged that shops in Britain and Ireland were selling horsemeat under the guise of beef. Dozens of product lines were withdrawn from British shelves.
The horsemeat was thought to have originated in Romania and Poland and to have entered the production chain of other meat products by mislabelling.
Rosselkhoznadzor periodically cracks down on foreign food imports. In 2013, it temporarily banned pork imports from Brazil, and in 2006 it banned wine and mineral water from Moldova and Georgia as well as Georgian mineral water.
Auchan is the eleventh largest food retailer in the world. The supermarket giant has operated in Russia since 2002, running more than 200 stores in the country.
