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Singapore, November 10, 2012 Two meat suppliers have been fined for passing beef off as mutton, with one given the maximum penalty. Nabisha Mutton Supplier was ordered to pay $5,000 - the largest sum allowed under the Sale of Food Act. It also had its licence to sell meat revoked. Basha Food Supplier was fined $4,000 under the Sale of Food Act and is due to lose its licence next week. The suppliers were taken to court by the National Environment Agency (NEA). Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, said the Government was considering introducing stiffer penalties for the offence. He added that his ministry and the NEA had zero tolerance for such offensive business practices, and would investigate them thoroughly. "All confirmed cases will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law," he said. "Their licences to sell meat will be revoked." In a media statement yesterday, the NEA said it investigated the two suppliers with the help of the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority following feedback from the Indian Restaurant Association of Singapore. Public health officers went undercover to the shops in April and May this year. At Basha, an employee handed over a mixture of the two meats despite being asked for only mutton. When the officer revealed that he was from the NEA, the staff member asked for the 1.2kg of minced and chopped meat back so he could exchange it for mutton. DNA samples from both companies' meat were tested. Basha's was found to be almost 100 per cent beef. The company was fined on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the meat from Nabisha contained about 18 per cent beef, leading to a fine last month. When The Straits Times visited Nabisha in Yishun Ring Road, the stall had been taken over by the son-in-law of the woman who sold the offending meat. Mr Yassin Marecar, 32, said that on the day the NEA officer visited the shop in Block 414, his mother-in-law had accidentally ground mutton into the beef machine, resulting in the mixture. He said the stall currently sells mostly mutton and chicken, and beef in small quantities only to regular customers. However, it plans to sell more beef due to increased demand. Basha's owner Gulab Basha, 47, said the meat given to the NEA officer was beef left over from a wholesale order. The signboard outside his shop in Dunlop Street advertises only mutton and chicken, but he said he sells beef wholesale. He was in India at the time of the incident, and said the worker who served the NEA officer was not a salesman and did not know what he was handing over was beef. Mr Basha said he had stopped selling beef since the incident to prevent any further distress, adding that the worker has packed up and returned to India. Mr S. Ravenderan, vice-president of the Hindu Centre, said the practice could be a problem for Hindus, who are discouraged from eating beef as they regard the cow as sacred. Some Chinese also abstain from beef. Mutton sellers who spoke to The Straits Times said one way to tell the difference is that beef is generally more red than mutton, and the bones are bigger. Mr Raja Mohamed Vappiah, 37, who runs a mutton business in Tekka market, said those who supply meat to restaurants add beef to meet customers' expectations of low prices. Five meat sellers have been prosecuted for the same offence between 2009 and last year. jalmsab@sph.com.sg 
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>> Fined for selling beef as mutton
