The scandal of horsemeat in food products labeled as beef has spread to 16 member states of the European Union. To dispel doubts about the EU's food safety standards, a one-month campaign of safety tests has been launched by the European Commission. However, European consumers' doubts will not disappear overnight despite these efforts, says an article in Workers' Daily. Excerpts:

It is not harmful to eat healthy horsemeat. What has angered European consumers is that their long-held confidence in the EU's food safety procedures has been crushed by the scandal, which has exposed loopholes in the EU's supposedly unbreakable food supply chain. It has become the most serious food safety crisis in Europe since the outbreak of mad cow disease in the United Kingdom in the 1980s.

Suppliers, food manufacturers, supermarkets and governmental departments all seem to be shirking their responsibility and putting the blame on others. The investigations are still under way.

Although the EU has a common market, its member states have different levels of development and different legislation on food safety and supervision. The global financial crisis has further widened the gap between EU countries. Given loose monitoring and a lack of law enforcement, perhaps the final packers don't know whether the raw ingredients they pack are safe or not in many food products labeled "made in the EU".

Some analysis indicates the horsemeat scandal is a product of the recent economic crisis. Affected by the debt crisis, many Europeans have been hard hit by the debt crisis and hence there is an increasing demand for cheaper food. As a result, supermarkets have asked for a lower purchasing price from suppliers who also have to ask food manufacturers to lower the cost. Lawbreakers then seize the chance to make illegal profits.