The bottom line in the continuing saga of horsemeat in burgers and ready meals is that we have all been misled for years.

It's hardly the fault of those who chose to eat pre-prepared meals that if they look at the label and see the word "beef" listed as the main ingredient, they take that at face value. Trust is, after all, an essential part of healthy trade.

So it's completely understandable that there is anger and indignation – as I discovered earlier this week during a survey of customers in Glasgow who had switched from buying their meat at the supermarekt to their local butcher shop. Nobody, though, so far as I know, has actually taken to the streets in protest. I wonder why.

Now we know just how far-reaching the trade in meat can be (a Findus beef lasagne purchased at your local supermarket, for example, can involve traders in France, Cyprus, the Netherlands and Romania).

We know, too, that somewhere along the line horsemeat has entered the food chain without our knowing it, it's clear that labels can tell lies.

There have been accusations of criminality and shady dealings as if nobody – bar said criminals – has been in control of our food chain and its catastrophic failings.

Much of this problem has been triggered by the relentless campaign by supermarkets to drive down the price of food.

This means they source ever cheaper meat, and increasingly this has been from Europe - which means UK authorities have had to rely on information supplied by other countries. As this network has expanded, we're told verification has become almost impossible.

At the time of going to press, no Scottish businesses have been implicated in horsemeat (though Waitrose meatballs made in Glasgow have been found to contain pork), but as big-brand ready meals manufactured outwith Scotland dominate our supermarket shelves and chiller cabinets, the issue has affected Scottish consumers and government agencies alike.

The question is, who writes the labels on our food – and who approves them?

In England, responsibility for food labelling and food safety was switched from the Food Standards Agency to the Department for Health and Defra in 2010, effectively neutering the FSA's power to enforce EU food safety regulations.

In Scotland, however, the Food Standards Agency retains responsibility for food labelling and meat inspection and is accountable to the Scottish Parliament. This means the FSA has two very different roles in the UK, and this has only added to the confusion and frustration.

In fact, the Scottish Government hopes to create a new Scottish food standards body that would operate independently.

A three-month consultation will begin in the coming weeks to determine its scope and responsibilities, though it probably won't come into force until 2015.

This week, it was announced Europe-wide checks were to be carrried out concurrently with UK-wide authenticity tests of 28 local authorities, which entails gathering 224 formal samples from a range of businesses including schools and hospitals.

In Scotland, additional inspections of all 229 approved meat processing facilities are already under way.

Local authorities reported their initial findings to the FSA and the Scottish Government yesterday.

Crucially, retailers across the UK were asked to conduct their own checks on products, including labelling, as were businesses manufacturing processed beef products.

Charles Milne, director of the FSA in Scotland, underlined how important it is that the public has "clear and accurate information about the food they buy and eat", and vowed to get the matter sorted.

This is all very well, but I wonder why it hasn't happened before.

I asked the FSA in Scotland, and was surprised to hear that it 'hoped' to find out exactly what has been going on once the full audit of compliance is completed. Many people will have thought it was its job to know in the first place.

Until now, inspections have been carried out by the local authorities on behalf of the FSA. They are based on risk, or "intelligence", and the regularity with which they are conducted depends on how high that risk is assessed to be.

Local authorities are not responsible for labelling. That's down to retailers. Yet already Tesco has blamed its French supplier Comigel for failing to follow an agreed manufacturing process. And so the pointing of fingers and buck-passing continues.

Until we get assurances that what it says on the label is what really is in our food, my advice is simple. Just stop buying processed food at supermarkets.

Best go to your local farm shop and buy a local ready meal – or better still, buy your own butchermeat and cook it yourself.

cate.devine@theherald.co.uk

Twitter: @catedevinewriter