A supermarket chain has become caught up in a case of potential food fraud involving beef falsely labelled as British by a supplier.

Lancashire-based Booths, which has 27 stores across the north of England, immediately removed products from its shelves and ceased trading with the unnamed supplier after the UK’s National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) launched an investigation into pre-packed slices of beef and deli products were packaged as British, when they were actually from elsewhere, including South America.

The supermarket itself is not under investigation and the incident does not appear to have affected any Scottish retailers.

Ron McNaughton, Food Standards Scotland's head of food crime and incidents, said: “We are aware that the NFCU is currently investigating a UK retailer in relation to potential food crime involving pre-packed meat and deli products.

It would be inappropriate for FSS to comment with regard to an ongoing investigation being carried out by another organisation. At this time, there are no known links to Scotland.”

The investigation – codenamed Operation Hawk – was made public in December by the Food Standards Agency, which is the parent body of the NFCU. The deputy chief of the NFCU, Andrew Quinn, said that it was not a food safety issue but a matter of food fraud, which it takes very seriously.

He said: “The retailer was notified on the same day that we took action against the food business suspected of the fraud and immediately removed all affected products from their shelves. The retailer continues to work closely and cooperatively with the NFCU investigation to progress the case against the supplier.”

The case comes a decade after consumers were told horsemeat was discovered in the food supply chain in products being sold as beef, which resulted in millions of products being withdrawn.