Quality check of Ethnic/Exostic Food

[Adrian42]

Didn't they recently find horse meat in the ethnic Swedish food (Köttbullar) at IKEA?

[riku2]

Does finland have quality measure factor of Ethnic/Exostic Foods ? When and how are they measured ? I just want to be sure I am not eating snake in the name of Pork...

And you think the food safety laws/frequency of inspection would be written differently for "ethnic/exotic" foods compared to a meat balls? you would do better to consider where the food comes from than rely on the food safety agency to do your checking for you. if in doubt, do not buy it and eat something more basic that comes from 100km away instead of 5000km away.

[zax]

I have a friend who tests the machines which "separate" the meat, which lead to me trying to stick to identifiable chunks of animal as much as possible. If you can't tell by looking at it what it is/was then you have to take it on trust, either trusting the foreign manufacturer/importer or trusting whoever oversees domestic produce.

[CH]

I recently heard from a friend about his friend who went to Bangladesh for some official matter, while having food in the restaurant he ordered some chicken item, and had a bone stuck in the throat. He came back to Sweden immidiately for treatment, after removing bone they came to know it was Mouse (Mice). So, they fed him mouse while ordering chicken in Bangladesh.

Whenever you hear a tall story like that, especially if it happened to a friend of a friend (of a friend...)... go directly to www.snopes.com and check it out. And what do we find there? http://www.snopes.com/horrors/food/chinese.asp
Another way is to make a sanity check. Would a person with a bone stuck in their throat hop on the plane and fly half around the globe to have it removed? Would it make sense to use tiny mice as a meat source? That would be a lot of work cleaning those mice for minimal meat. Rats would make more sense.

Anyway, I say it's an urban legend.

[Pursuivant]

How appropriately:
http://www.iltalehti.fi/uutiset/2013071 ... 8_uu.shtml
1) yes they are checked
2) because Finnish people obey, the authorities are totally impotent in dealing with foreigners

[riku2]

How appropriately:
http://www.iltalehti.fi/uutiset/2013071 ... 8_uu.shtml
1) yes they are checked
2) because Finnish people obey, the authorities are totally impotent in dealing with foreigners

There's a difference between checking before products can be sold and spot checks on the shops after the products have been on sale. I think the OP would like some scheme where "foreign" products can only be put on the shelves once they have been tested, but that is not the law in Finland. People can sell what they want, the inspectors might come along but as the article writes they are pretty much powerless if the retailer keeps selling the products or breaking countless rules.

On the other hand I grew tired of the finnish/swedish label stuck over the original (english) instructions on many ethnic foods. For most things I now buy them in the UK at 1/2 the price and don't have to try to peel the labels off to read the cooking instructions. And I found i quite funny when the original packet instructions and finnish label didn't match, even on a packet of pasta - original instructions cook for 3 mins, finnish label: cook for 5 mins.