Supermarket Accused Of Selling 19 Year-Old Meat

A Swedish company is being accused of relabeling and selling canned meat that was originally produced over 19 years ago, according to swedish newspaper SvD.

The meat, which was produced by a company named  Scan Syd,  was churned out all the way back in 1993 for Sweden’s emergency stock.

With a shelf-life of about 10 years, the Swedish Board of Agriculture attempted to sell off the cans in 2000, which would leave about 3 years left on the canned meat. However, the board had too much difficulty with the sale and stashed the cans in a warehouse for another nine years before they were discovered again.

After the cans were stumbled upon, a wholesaler then agreed to purchase 1000 tons of canned corn beef and 500 tons of minced mixed meat.

However, after a consumer actually purchased a can in a Sweden supermarket, an investigation was launched by Swedish environmental officers that led to startling revelations regarding the use of these expired meats.

“We found large numbers of cans that were being relabeled on the premises,” said one of the agency officers, Camilla Blom.

M&T Company, the wholesale company responsible for purchasing those cans of meat had been actually relabeling the cans with an expiration date of 2013.

“The nutritional value is so low that anyone eating large amounts of it would risk malnutrition,” wrote Maria Walczyka of the Warsaw Agricultural University.

The investigation has prompted M&T to recall the canned meats from all 23 shops that they had distributed them to.

Originally finding its way in front of a judge, the case was soon dropped as prosecutors found it impossible to prove that the company had intentions of deceiving anyone.

Agency officials will aim to have the case re-evaluated and attempt to prosecute the company for their actions that put so many in danger.

“If we can’t get someone who sells 19-year-old food charged before a court of law, then we can’t get legal action against anyone,” said the agency.