Belgian minister on meat business: 'Mafia practices and fraud'

brussels - The Belgian agriculture minister Denis Ducarme labels the abuses at meat company Veviba in Bastogne and the parent company Verbist as 'mafia practices and fraud on a large scale.' The scandal prompts him to implement reforms at the food agency FASFC.

Last week it appeared that Veviba had messed with the freezing dates and labels of beef products. Several supermarkets immediately banned the company.

The minister is thoroughly investigating how the FASFC controls and passes information to the political level, he said Monday in parliament. Ducarme has, since taking office in 2017, determined shortcomings in the agency. A check in 2016 already showed that 70 percent of the meat packages did not comply with the rules, according to De Standaard.

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