From Horse meat “Beef burgers” to “Halal Pork” you can’t miss all of the supply chain issues in UK media recently. It is evidently clear that the supply chain effects many lives, perhaps a lot more than some would think.
Here are some recent news stories that reflect on the bad and ugly of the supply chain:
The Horse Meat Scandal
This has been big and shocking news for many in January. Consumers were outraged to find that the meat in their Tesco Everyday Value burger contained horse DNA. The FSA (Food Standards Agency) have traced it back to a Northern Irish Burger Supplier that despite an agreement with the food giant that all sourcing would be done in the UK and Ireland, was using frozen blocks of meat off cuts, imported from Poland......Tasty!
This has been big and shocking news for many in January. Consumers were outraged to find that the meat in their Tesco Everyday Value burger contained horse DNA. The FSA (Food Standards Agency) have traced it back to a Northern Irish Burger Supplier that despite an agreement with the food giant that all sourcing would be done in the UK and Ireland, was using frozen blocks of meat off cuts, imported from Poland......Tasty!
Pork DNA in Halal Products
Just a few weeks after the horse meat scandal a new supply chain disaster story was revealed. Pork DNA had been found in Halal products served to prison inmates in the UK and Ireland. This prompted outcry from the Muslim community. Dr Ali Saleem of the Islamic Cultural Centre said that for a Muslim, eating pork was "equivalent to taking drugs". These products had also been sourced from a N.I. supplier. Dark times for the Northern Irish meat industry and the FSA.
Ministry of Justice is Criticised over Outsourced Court Contracts
Back in the UK The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has been under criticism for the way court contracts have been handled. Fears that the standards would fall when the contracts were outsourced were ignored. Immediately the procurement of Translation and Interpreter services (for victims, witnesses and defendants) ran into difficulties. This resulted in some interpreters failing to turn up, leading to cancelled trials and others mistranslated evidence. The Commons Justice committee said the Ministry of Justice had not had a sufficient understanding of the complexities of court interpreting and translation work before it decided to put the services out to tender.
Today I have concentrated on the bad and the ugly of the supply chain.
Tomorrow I will share with you with some of my favourite stories (the good) about procurement.
Happy sourcing!
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