European supermarkets stop selling Brazil beef over deforestation links
SAO PAULO/AMSTERDAM, Dec 15 (Reuters) – Six European supermarket chains, including two owned by Dutch firm Ahold Delhaize and a Carrefour subsidiary, said on Wednesday they would stop selling some or all beef products from Brazil due to links with destruction of the Amazon rainforest.
The pledges ranged from supermarket chain Lidl Netherlands, which committed to stop selling all beef originating in South America starting in 2022, to more focused decisions to halt sales of certain corned beef or beef jerky products.
Many of the products affected are linked to the world’s largest meatpacker, JBS SA.
The boycotts are in response to an investigation by Brazilian publication Reporter Brasil that alleged JBS indirectly sourced cows from illegally deforested areas, in a scheme known as “cattle laundering.”
This occurs when cattle raised on an illegally deforested plot of land are sold to a legitimate farm before sale to a slaughterhouse, to hide its origin.
By Jake Spring and Anthony Deutsch / Reuters
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