Donkey, water buffalo and other unconventional ingredients have been found in almost two-thirds of the meat tested in South Africa.

The tests, conducted by the University of Stellenbosch late last year, were made before a scandal broke out in Europe about horse meat labelled as beef that raised concerns worldwide. The study tested 139 minced meats, burger patties, deli meats, sausages and dried meats and found that 68% of them were contaminated. Louw Hoffman, one of the people who conducted the study, says these products did not adhere to legislation in terms of labelling regulations.

“They were not telling the consumers what the ingredients are. One of major lack on the labelling we found were plant proteins, mainly soya and gluten and they could contain allergen, so anyone who’s allergic to gluten or soya would have a problem eating the meat product that contain that,” Louw said.

Louw added that they did not find unexpected animal proteins in the products that were examined, with the exception of one case of donkey meat in a sausage tested in KwaZulu Natal. He says most of the animal proteins, like chicken and pork, were expected to be found in beef sausages.

“These are not illegal but what’s illegal is that these were not indicated as being present in the sausage, the patty or the mince, and that’s the part that we are worried about. I think these are all okay to consume but the problem is that you as the consumer has the right to decide whether you what to eat pork chicken in your beef sausage,” Louw concluded.