PARIS, December 16, 2021 (AFP) – Several retail groups, including France’s Carrefour, have pledged to remove meat products suspected of being linked to deforestation in Brazil, the US NGO Mighty Earth announced, Thursday (15).
The decisions were made after the publication of an investigation by the Brazilian NGO “Reporter Brasil”, founded by journalists, in cooperation with Mighty Earth.
In the investigation, Repórter Brasil accuses JBS, Marfrig and Minerva, three large Brazilian companies in the meat sector, of contributing to deforestation in some areas of the country.
According to the NGO, some products obtained thanks to deforestation are found in European supermarkets in the form of beef jerky, “beef” (a type of preserved meat) or fresh meat.
The US organization announced in a statement that “the fact that Mighty Earth shared the results of its pre-release investigation with the companies directly involved lends itself to today’s data” from distributors.
Specifically, after Mighty Earth’s complaint, the French group Carrefour removed from its stores in Belgium a reference to the Jack Link brand, which produces part of its jerky products in Brazil with JBS.
“We are studying the origin of products we may have in other countries – if we find them – to make a similar decision if that is the case,” confirmed Agathe Grossmith, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility Projects at Carrefour.
In turn, Auchan told AFP he had initiated a procedure to recall a product from Jack Link in France and was investigating its source. The group also said it does not buy Brazilian beef for its brands.
After Mighty Earth, Belgian supermarket chain Delhaize also pledged to “remove all Jack Link products from its shelves”.
The NGO also highlights initiatives by other supermarket chains, such as Lidl and Albert Heijn, in the Netherlands, and Sainsbury’s and Princes, in the United Kingdom, to prevent the sale of Brazilian beef, whose producers are presumably linked to deforestation.
“These trade measures, along with new EU legislation to combat imported deforestation, show that the blockade is getting close to forest destroyers,” Nico Mozi, director of Mighty Earth Europe, said in the statement.
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