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HORSEMEAT SCANDAL

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Horsemeat lasagne sent to Stockholm’s homeless

Several tonnes of frozen lasagne pulled from store shelves in Sweden because it contained horsemeat will be donated to Stockholm's homeless population by Swedish food retailer Axfood.

Published: 20 March 2013 07:24 CET

Horsemeat lasagne sent to Stockholm's homeless

Axfood, one of several Swedish retailers affected by the horsemeat scandal, announced on Tuesday it was donating around five tonnes of frozen lasagne to the St. Clara church in Stockholm which will in turn distribute the food to the city’s homeless population.

“Many have reacted that huge amounts of edible food would be thrown away,” Axfood said in a statement.

“But it wasn’t clear that it would be possible to give it away.”

Now Sweden’s National Food Agency (Livsmedelsverket) has given the project the green light, telling Axfood it has no objections to the company donating the lasagne.

The only condition, according to the agency is that it be “removed from its packaging and that there is an accurate list of ingredients available where the product is distributed”.

The first deliveries of the horsemeat lasagne are expected to arrive at St. Clara church on Friday, March 22nd. The church distributes food to the homeless daily at Sergels torg square in central Stockholm.

Back in February, Axfood was one of several Swedish food retailers who opted to withdraw frozen single-portion lasagne from stores after horsemeat was found in lasagne produced by Findus.

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The shocking stats that reveal the increasing number of homeless people dying in France

Photo: AFP

612

This is the official total for the number of homeless people who died in France in 2018, according to a new report by the French charity Morts de la Rue.

The figure represents those living either on the streets or in emergency shelters or unofficial squats in the months before they die. Some 20 percent of victims have been SDF (sans domicile fixe or homeless) for five years before their death.

In reality the real number is likely to be far higher. In fact health authorities in France suggest the true total could be as much as six times higher.

It can often be hard to determine an exact cause of death. Many homeless people suffer from illnesses and some 30 percent are addicted to alcohol or drugs. The suicide rate among homeless people is higher than average and violent attacks and accidents are also behind some of the deaths.

19 percent

This represents the percentage increase in the number of deaths between 2018 and 2017, when there were 511 recorded deaths of homeless people.

That represents the biggest jump in recent years but the number of deaths have been steadily rising since 2013 when there were 461 recorded.

50 percent

According to Morts de la Rue, 50 percent of the homeless people who die do so “before our eyes”, in other words on the streets in full view of the public.

48.7

That's the average age of the homeless men who died last year, well below France's average life expectancy which currently stands at 82 years.

14 percent

Some 14 percent of those homeless people who die are from around Europe. Indeed less than half are French, according to stats from Morts de la Rue.

Some 20 percent of victims are from outside the EU and 25 percent are registered as “unknown origin”.

13

The number of those who die on the streets of France or in shelters also include minors. Last year there were 13 homeless people who died under the age of 18.

90 percent

While 90 percent of the victims are men, there are an increasing number of women.

“Homeless women are often invisible, face particular difficulties related to gender, and suffer from violence during their life on the street,” said the authors of the study.

Between 2013 and 2018, 280 homeless women died at an average age of just over 46 years old. That number included 24 young women including children under the age of nine. One third of those homeless women who died were mothers with young children.

So what needs to be done?

As part of his presidential election campaign Emmanuel Macron promised to provide a roof over the head of every single person in France. But the government has a lot of work to do before his promise is fulfilled.

Nevertheless the charity Morts de la Rue insists “a home for everyone” must be the ultimate goal for authorities.

“Having a place to live is vital,” say Morts de la Rue.

“We can see that the impact on people of their time spent on the streets – mostly the effect on their physical and mental health which makes reintegration more difficult and even impossible over time,” the study said.

But in the meantime the charity is demanding a new major government study into homelessness. The last one carried out by the state's statistics agency INSEE was back in 2012.

The charity also insists that there must be consistency in the emergency accommodation offered to homeless people, whether it's the night shelters or the temporary homeless accommodation that opens in the winter months but closes in the spring.

Homeless people must be offered shelter all year round, the charity says, to provide them with a base and some stability.

Homeless people also need to be followed more closely by health and social agencies especially after they have spent time in hospital. Often they are not offered any help at vital times such as the period between leaving hospital and waiting to being given temporary accommodation in a shelter.

Police and the courts also need to be made much more aware of the impact of domestic violence on women.

“If they are better protected, they will not be forced to flee their own homes to escape the violence that they endure,” added Morts de la Rue.

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