Zambeef Chief Executive Officer Francis Grogan says the company is gong through a difficult period in light of recent reports concerning its imported meat products.
Commenting on the revelations that the laboratory tests results conducted in South Africa confirmed the presence of harmful chemicals, Mr. Grogan said the company has been going through a clearly difficult period.
“Clearly it has been a difficult period in light of the reports concerning the company’s imported meat products and we are cooperating fully with the government to draw a line under the matter. We are committed to ensuring that all products sold by Zambeef are of the highest quality and safe for our customers,” Mr Grogan said.
Mr. Grogan also announced that the company will continue to suspend the sale of imported beef products until Zambeef and the Ministry of Health have fully resolved the matter.
“The company has made it clear through local media that Zambeef only imports meat products from companies from countries with globally recognized traceability protocols in place namely the UK, Ireland and the USA and that its imported meat products are accompanied by certification from all the required authorities in these countries. The embargo on imported meat products remains in place until further notice.”
He said the company believes that it is still well positioned to build on its position as one of the leading food producers in Southern Africa.
Mr. Grogan said Zambeef will be working with relevant authorities to identify the level and potential source of any contamination.
His comments follows the receipt of test results commissioned by government in South Africa which stated that the products contained the presence of Formaldehyde and that the Ministry is working to establish the source of contamination.
The Zam-beef issue should be taken seriously very serious. Am glad this issue has in-fact opened up our eyes on what kind of food we eat and I pray and hope that of Government will punish anyone found wanting .It is sad that out of greed some people have subjected us to chemicals believed to be cancerous to human being just because of making profit this is totally wrong.I don’t think Zam-beef have a valid excuse on why they have been importing hooves, offal’s and liver from Europe. This all out of greed . I love hooves and offal’s I just don’t know how much of the contaminated hooves and offal’s have consumed from what have been buying from Zam-beef in the past. Am sure the culprits don’t even eat hooves or offal’s and am equally sure not even their dogs are fed with hooves or offal’s . I
I THOUGHT ZAMBEEF IS SUPPOSED TO EXPORT BEEF AS OPPOSED TO IMPORTING IT. EVEN THEN NOT IMPORTING RUBBISH.
I agree with you Brian but lets look at it from this angle;
Zambeef is one of its kind employing in excess of 5500 Zambians of various skills. If the company goes under, who will provide these Jobs? will the government do? certainly not. what I suggest is this. I do not support the importation of ichifu and ifimbombo from UK. This practice must be banned by GRZ and if the company has abrogated any laws, they must be fined accordingly. In the same manner, the same GRZ must come out and assure the nation that they have punished the company at the same time helping the same company like a son to stand up again in the best interest of safeguarding Jobs. Zambeef must continue to be productive or else suppliers of its raw materials shall suffer, not to mention the lager number of employees.
WHERE ARE YOUR RESULTS? WHEN THIS ISSUE CAME UP, YOU DEFENDED YOUR SELVES SAYING YOU CANT TRUST GVT RESULTS INSTEAD YOU TOLD US THAT YOU ARE SENDING YOUR SAMPLE TO REPUTABLE LABS. CAN U TELL US YOUR TEST RESULTS? WHY ARE YOU QUITE? IAM SURE THEY ARE ALSO +VE.
YOU ARE SAYING ZAMBEEF HAS EMPLOYEED OVER 5500 AND HOW MANY HAVE THEY KILLED WITH THEIR CANCEROUS MEET?
From Zambeef to Zambam.. What a shame!!
The Zam-beef issue should be taken seriously very serious. Am glad this issue has in-fact opened up our eyes on what kind of food we eat and I pray and hope that of Government will punish anyone found wanting .It is sad that out of greed some people have subjected us to chemicals believed to be cancerous to human being just because of making profit this is totally wrong.I don’t think Zam-beef have a valid excuse on why they have been importing hooves, offal’s and liver from Europe. This all out of greed . I love hooves and offal’s I just don’t know how much of the contaminated hooves and offal’s have consumed from what have been buying from Zam-beef in the past. Am sure the culprits don’t even eat hooves or offal’s and am equally sure not even their dogs are fed with hooves or offal’s . I…
Difficult times when u have been making profit if you are guilty you deserve punishment . Am glad this issue has in-fact opened up our eyes on what kind of food we eat and I pray and hope that of Government will punish anyone found wanting .It is sad that out of greed some people have subjected us to chemicals believed to be cancerous to human being just because of making profit this is totally wrong.I don’t think Zam-beef have a valid excuse on why they have been importing hooves, offal’s and liver from Europe. This all out of greed . I love hooves and offal’s I just don’t know how much of the contaminated hooves and offal’s have consumed from what have been buying from Zam-beef in the past. Am sure the culprits don’t even eat hooves or offal’s and am equally sure not even their dogs are…
Francis Grogan has now changed his tune…. what a contrast to two weeks ago, when he was on the offence. I hope ministry of health also tests the DNA of those samples I wouldn’t be shocked if horse DNA was present in those meat products.
ZAMBEEF, you are done! How will you recover from this one? Perhaps start with engaging local farmers and using only Zambian Beef.
Isn’t it time Zambia had its on testing facilities? DNA etc. How much unnecessary money will the country give to South Africa?
Zambeef is not just imported offals. Zambeef sources its beef from local farmers in western and southern provinces. All its beef cuts apart from offals are locally sourced. There’s a high demand for offals in Zambia but the problem is that the local supply cannot satisfy this demand. But why? The Zambian gov’ts have not invested in veterinary services so most cattle do not disease free offals that are fit for human consumption and therefore they are usually discarded. There’s next to nothing in terms of vet services in Western province for example. The excuse is “lack of roads”. Then build them!
ascertaining the source is not solving the problem. if the truth is established, zambeef’s meet has these harmful chemicals, when do u think they started doing it? how many zambians have died and are still on the way to death for unknown cancers/illnesses simply because they ate zambeef meat?
mr grogan should know southern africa is NOT a dumping site!!!!!???!!!
if the truth has been established, CLOSE ZAMBEEF! PERIOD! we are able to feed ourselves. even boondwe “amaranthus hybridus” we can eat!
i know someone may say but how many jobs will be lost!? when fathers die, the children will not eat zambeef’s jobs!, they will end up on the streets.
Close Zambeef? Zambeef is not just imported offals. Zambeef is a diversified agribusiness. It has a cropping division that is involved in growing wheat, maize and soya beans. It is has a palm oil plantation on its way in Mpika. It has a milling unit for wheat flour. It has a feed manufacturing facility. It produces vegetable oils . It is also involved in poultry and pork production.
And you are telling me that all these things should be shut down simply because some imported offals are alleged to be contaminated? Just advise your govt to institute stringent tests on all food products or simply ban the importation of offals. Let us think with our heads not with our hearts or emotions.
lol… ala wandepula..kekekekekek..
The issue at hand is: did ZAMBEEF intetionally procure beef for consumption by Zambians, from abroad, knowing it was adulterated or not?
Remember that ZAMBEEF does also import the same products to Ghana, Nigeria and RSA….they are patiently watching in the sidelines as this saga unfolds.
They knew the meat had preservatives. You don’t expect meat to arrive fresh from USA or Ireland without any chemicals to keeping it looking so.
Moving forward, it is up to Zambians to demand food labels with ingredients and to name the preservatives used. These ruthless business men thrive on consumer ignorance.
Good point @nubian (i wont use the other name connection word this time)
its time for zambia to revisit all import laws… it looks like any jim and jack can bring anything into the country,,,
I think in my view there is a hidden agenda. How come all of a sudden there is a mushrooming of NGOs in the health sector? is it by coincidence that most of those and the so called doctors without borders are from the same countries mentioned where Zambeef imports beef? My suspicion is that they know exactly what they have done and want to dupe us so we believe they care. Meanwhile, they have calculated profits they will make from Zambia through THEIR pharmaceutical companies once the Zambians start suffering from the exported diseases such as cancer. I see this as an economic war and we need awakened leaders and patriotic Zambians to win this war. Remember the HIV conversational case in Libya and we know what the end was!
the issues are:
1. The whistleblower was right, he needs protection from Zambeef, they would want him dead if they had a way.
2. Zambeef should review its procurement chain, did their staff introduce the chemical or was the meat already embalmed by Zambeefs suppliers. They need to get to the bottom of how this chemical enters their supply chain so they can sue for the loss of business as i dont see how they can come back from this.
What were you guys thinking surely? maybe you had no idea or some one did it to frame you? when the dust settles down please speak and appologise to the people of Zambia for Embalming them? some sort of press conference would be a start especially from the president, Obama just had one on the Trayvon case MHSRIP.
No apology will do now,,, firstly the extent of the damage has to be known,,, we want to know if there is any link to the raising in cervial/other cancer cases in our women and men,,,,
There was that man who was report on muvi tv who developed breast,,, you never know zambeef maybe the cause!!
My word, i bet this calls for every Zambian to be tested Ndobo, gees these guys are in deep S****t! well they must fute the bill for all the tests and pay all the victims. I wouldnt envy you Zambeef at this point in time, you are Evil!
Serious I feel your pain I hope its not knowingly contamination to maximize your profits at the expense of us humans. Otherwise you killing us with those complicated European diseases we are seeing people growing tumors.
Some Nigger here is saying almost all food stuffs are embalmed so test all other Beef producers, they call it preservative but only in little quantities.
Guys ine ni chibwabwa.
Please do not use that word. I feel that when you do that, you’re humiliating your race. It doesn’t even come naturally to a Zambian.
I am in the US and hate it when black Zambians adopt racist ghetto sh!t.
Good evening
Difficult times for the company but also for the consumers. Nothing ruins your trust in food suppliers more like realising that they’ve been serving you contaminated food all along.
It will take a lot of work to regain cosumer confidence. Meanwhile, the safest way is to buy from farmers you know, who slaughter and treat while you look. Otherwise, the best food is still the organically grown greens from the home garden. You knows it coz you grows it…
After that grandstanding recently, Francis Grogan is eating the humble pie, but it should not end there, he and his Chairman must face lengthy jail sentences…..this ***** thought our labs are fake just because of his racist loaded opinion…..this grogan is worse than a pig!
But our labs FAILED to find anything from the very samples that was sent to RSA…don’t you remember the minister’s first statement in Parliament. He practically gave it the all clear.
Totally agree with you, Grogan is a racist Irish man which I personally find to be sad because most Irish people I’ve met are down to earth and less racist than most white people but not in his case, just look at Zambeef’s structure all the top managers are white they only have a few black Zambians as top managers for ceremonial purposes such as the, PR, HR managers and their board Chairman Mwanza who is a self glorified bigwig who has held high positions in various institutions where he no doubt amassed some wealth but did little to really improve the institutions he was in charge of. Mwanza was UNZA chancellor when the institution was getting closed, he was BOZ governor when the Kwacha plummeted and now he is Zambeef Chairman when the firm is facing this mess yayaya…nuff said!!!
Uyoo !Bamugwila mambala!How many pipo have u killed u murderer? Nowander Zambia is ranked a country with the highest number of cancer cases in the world. This extremely serious. Worse than Rwanda genocide.How many have faced& are facing death?
Let 0 the Zambeef outlets close period!let the idi ots be taken to court. let pipo be tested .The criminals must compasete the victims.This case is extremely serious.lt also shows how the relavant authority had gone to sleep for a long time.
I have been having some chronic pains at the back of my neck since 2006. I thought it was due to manual handling or DSE related case but it could be one those Zambeef-induced illnesses.
Sue them!
Actually you may be right. My sister in law likes offals. she has this irritating scratchy throat. am sure its the Zambeef offals? How can prove it?
So the same harmful additives found in the Zambeef, don’t they have a particular smell,how come those who eat the meat have failed to tell the difference between normal and ”emblamed” meat. I think the Zambian govt cocked up, they may be trying to save their face and protect The Post who made the initial allegations against Zambeef. We want to see test results from the Zambian lab that tested the meat initially the story came up and also let’s see the results from the South African lab and from the German lab which Zambeef sent some samples to as sanctioned and supervised by relevant govt authorities. Zambeef should be very careful,it’s been a clear smeer campaign from the start,Zambeef should be clean,someone is now trying to save their face.
Tikudya chabe
‘Being satisfied to drink the dregs from the cup of human progress will not demonstrate our fitness as a people to exist alongside of others, but when of our own initiative we strike out to build industries, governments, and ultimately empires, then and only then will we as a race prove to our creator and to man in general that we are fit to survive and capable of shaping our own destiny.’ – Marcus Garvey
..and we can start by not calling ourselves derogatory names – yes, I’m looking at you dorasiliya.
Could it be that someone is trying to reduce the number of voters in a certain section of the Zambian society? Just thinking..!
This western diet with it’s high prevalence of huge portions of meat,
small portions of whole grains or none at all, and practically no greens has done a wonderful job in white supremacies goal to reduce the Black population in the USA as well as enrich their drug companies, by keeping our old folk & now our youth in hospitals with;
Diabetes
Arthritis
Hypertension
Diverticulitis
Acidosis
Colon Cancer
Prostate Cancer
Breast cancer
Heart diseases of all kinds
These above named diseases are now common in Zambia because there is a whole generation that is unaware of the concept of a balanced diet, let alone the value of vitamins, mineral, antioxidants, or basic food preparation and cooking skills, therefore a large population, is becoming dependant on fast foods and processed…
You know Uncle, I was surprised when I go here at how ignorant people were about eating healthily.
If you think about it, a typical Zambian meal is really balanced. Carbo from the nsima, protein from the meat/Kapenta/ifishimu and a vegetable for essential vitamins. Especially as it’s mostly fresh and unprocessed.
I’ve heard that recently, people in Zambia think that it is elitist to afford fast food rather than the typical meal I’ve talked about.
We are way ahead, in terms of nutrition. Except that poverty may prevent what is a typically,healthy balanced diet.
Jail time, huge fines and GRZ takes over the company and auction it off.
Afrikans need to be enlightened about black consciousness. Black consciousness is basically about survival and those into that try to stay on the cutting edge of what is going on in contemporary – food, clothing and shelter and an understanding that the fried chicken, short ribs, baked ham, burgers that our grandmothers and mothers ate is now a chemical, antibiotic, and hormone laced cesspool, of possibly GM, or cloned crap, put on the market with no testing or oversight as to what harm it could cause the public.
This is sad. Where was the Ministry of Health all these years. Anyway, for me the way forward is to ban importation of all meet and even fish products. I may add that even transportation of fresh “wet” meat and fish products must be reviwed. The so-called “cold chain” maintenance system should be re-examined to ensure that whatever preservatives are added to enhance its effectiveness are known and are safe.
A question to ask is, “who packed the meat which Zambeef was importing into zambia?” Packaging is usually done by the importer. Anyway that is 4 Zambeef to sort out.
My advice is that Zambeef as a business must be saved. Let us not throw away the baby with the dirty water.
As Zambians, we should be proud of Zambeef. This smear campaign must come to an end and we must save the company at all cost!
Not at the cost of our health surely?
infact if it be possible give him my mobile number, stupid *****, let him call me. +447709746491. Name: Kaingo Kazembe. these *****s are taking us and our country for fun. Let all Zambeed outlets be closed for now, all of them no matter what
the results are their own which they sent to SA and Germany. close all outlets of zambeef regardless of the local investors who are themselves a part of this scam and dirty fck. hope one day i have an opportunity to feed/cook for a family of these one executive member, i will feed feaces wrapped in harm, as soon as possible
You chi CEO whatever they call you, you must be a fool together with your Hakainde infact I will write to ICC so that you can be tryed under crimes againest humanity. Thank you Govt of the Republic of Zambia for beeing magnunimus enough to save our people.
I only hope that government will speak the same language when SAMBIFI decides to lay off workers. There has been so much noise at the expense of the workers of the company. Ndelolesha fye.
Aldehydes Iye….agony being embbalmed while u re alive.Zambeef & u go on campajign ta denouncing govt with ci ‘bufi’ song.Wanya ci Petersen qho do want to denounce.We shal see!Wht if govt ffights back now against yr fight honestly do u thnk zambeef cab survive?The problem with ci tufi is wantng not acept wrong doing.Be remoseful & adress how to handle the isue.Now ci tufi tufi why dont u calm down.Dont insult govt u evn insult health minister wht has done .The honourable is expresing concerns to ci tufi…
Zambeef must have a little blame on this issue. Inspectors previously used to go to zambeef on an recarrying health inspections. You know they only went there after seeing their fridges were running low, get all they needed as far as relish was concern and then certify excelency. So our health practitioners are to blame for they were so corrupt and still are. How long does it take for a chinise broiler keeper to grow a broiler? Two weeks most zambians know but don’t act on it. Corruption. And few zambians are now doing the same. So not even local is safe to eat. Kaunda is safe.
These indeed are very difficult times bwana Grogan especially for my mother who has suffered from unexplained cancer for the last two years..maybe as a result of contaminated beef.
Its great that there is mention of 5500 employees who would lose their jobs if ZAMBEEF was to go under but maybe the upside to this is probably these same workers would have bin fed free large amounts of these ofals and vimbombo so these are just ghost workers lol
@ Oliver, you have cracked my libs.All of them.