Charities should not get burgers, says SVP

REDISTRIBUTION:The St Vincent de Paul said last night it does not advocate redistribution to charities of withdrawn beef burgers.

Its comments came after the regional vice-president of the SVP in Cork, Brendan Dempsey, said he believed many charities including the St Vincent De Paul would be willing to take the withdrawn burgers and offer them to people in need who would be grateful for them.

“I think it’s sinful to see good food going to waste and these burgers could be offered to various charities once they meet the required food safety standards which we are told is not an issue with them,” he said.

“People could be told what exactly they are being offered in terms of the possibility that the burgers contain horse meat and if people are happy to accept them, then they should be given to them,” he said.

Mr Dempsey said he believed many families would happily accept the withdrawn burgers while he also believed that many of the 4,000 students still waiting for their third level maintenance grants would similarly be willing to accept them.

Some 10 million burgers were withdrawn earlier this week by Monaghan based Silvercrest Foods after it was found by a Food Safety Authority of Ireland study to have produced a beef burger containing 29 per cent horse meat.

The FSAI stressed thought that the burgers did not pose any food safety risk.

Last night the St Vincent de Paul, in a statement, said the comments its Cork Regional vice-president were provided as a personal view and did not represent the views of the society nationally.

“Food poverty is an important issue and one which the SVP has actively sought to highlight. But the SVP nationally does not ask for the distribution of the beef burgers withdrawn from sale to be directed to charities.

“We do not believe that it is a feasible option in terms of the nature of the product or the logistics in its redistribution,” it said.