Horsemeat found in Tesco and Iceland beef burgers

[dutchman]

Horse DNA has been found in some beef burgers being sold in UK and Irish supermarkets, the Republic of Ireland's food safety authority (FSAI) has said.



The FSAI said the meat came from two processing plants in Ireland, Liffey Meats and Silvercrest Foods, and the Dalepak Hambleton plant in Yorkshire.

It said they posed no health risk.

The burgers were on sale in Tesco and Iceland in the UK and Ireland. In the Republic of Ireland they were on sale in Dunnes Stores, Lidl, and Aldi.

Retailers have said they are now removing all implicated batches of the burgers.

A total of 27 products were analysed, with 10 of them containing horse DNA and 23 containing pig DNA.

'Unacceptable'

Horsemeat accounted for approximately 29% of the meat content in one sample from Tesco.

In addition, 31 beef meal products, including cottage pie, beef curry pie and lasagne, were analysed, of which 21 tested positive for pig DNA.

The chief executive of the FSAI, Professor Alan Reilly, said that while the findings posed no risk to public health, they did raise some concerns.

"Whilst, there is a plausible explanation for the presence of pig DNA in these products due to the fact that meat from different animals is processed in the same meat plants, there is no clear explanation at this time for the presence of horse DNA in products emanating from meat plants that do not use horsemeat in their production process," he said.

"In Ireland, it is not in our culture to eat horsemeat and therefore, we do not expect to find it in a burger," Professor Reilly added.

"Likewise, for some religious groups or people who abstain from eating pig meat, the presence of traces of pig DNA is unacceptable."

Tesco's group technical director, Tim Smith, said his company was informed of the test results by the FSAI on Tuesday and they "immediately withdrew from sale all products from the supplier in question".

'Extremely serious'

In Tesco's case, two frozen beef burger products - sold in both the UK and Ireland - were found to contain horse DNA.

In a statement, Mr Smith said: "The safety and quality of our food is of the highest importance to Tesco. We will not tolerate any compromise in the quality of the food we sell. The presence of illegal meat in our products is extremely serious."

He added that Tesco was "working with the authorities in Ireland and the UK, and with the supplier concerned, to urgently understand how this has happened and how to ensure it does not happen again".

"We will not take any products from this site until the conclusion and satisfactory resolution of an investigation," the statement said.

[rebbonk]

Despite the recent news, Tesco says that their beef burger sales remain stable.

[dutchman]

Despite the recent news, Tesco says that their beef burger sales remain stable.

I'm stealing that one!

[dutchman]

Tesco apologises for 'hit the hay' tweet



Tesco has apologised after posting an apparently unintentional pun about horses on its customer service Twitter feed.

Days after the outcry over tests revealing that its Everyday Value beef burgers contained horse meat, the Tesco Customer Care told followers it would be "hitting the hay" for the night.

After several consumers complained or noted the seeming pun, the account responded by stating: "I'm terribly sorry.

"That tweet was scheduled before we knew of the current situation. We'd never intend to make light of it."

[rebbonk]

Tesco's "Ratner" moment?

They aren't too big to fail!

[dutchman]

Not just supermarkets...

Burger King has revealed that its burgers were contaminated with horse DNA.

The fast food restaurant chain had initially denied that its burgers contained horsemeat, but backtracked after receiving test results from the plant of their supplier Silvercrest.

Burger King stated: "Four samples recently taken from the Silvercrest plant have shown the presence of very small trace levels of equine DNA.

"Within the last 36 hours, we have established that Silvercrest used a small percentage of beef imported from a non-approved supplier in Poland.

"They promised to deliver 100% British and Irish beef patties and have not done so. This is a clear violation of our specifications, and we have terminated our relationship with them."

There are more than 500 Burger King restaurants in the UK.

I only eat Morrisons burgers myself, 100% Scottish beef.

[dutchman]

Horsemeat scandal: Tesco reveals 60% content in dish



Some Tesco Everyday Value Spaghetti Bolognese contains 60% horsemeat, DNA tests by the retailer have found.

The meal was withdrawn from sale last Tuesday and came from the same French factory producing Findus beef lasagne, at the centre of a current controversy.

The results came as Environment Secretary Owen Paterson outlined to MPs compulsory content testing for all UK processed meat producers and retailers.

Romania has rejected claims the contamination came from its abattoirs.

Tesco took the frozen bolognese off the shelves when it found out Findus was concerned about the source of its meat at the same Comigel processing plant in Metz, north-eastern France.

In a statement, Tesco Group technical director Tim Smith said: ""The frozen Everyday Value Spaghetti Bolognese should contain only Irish beef from our approved suppliers. The source of the horsemeat is still under investigation by the relevant authorities.

"The level of contamination suggests that Comigel was not following the appropriate production process for our Tesco product and we will not take food from their facility again.

"We are very sorry that we have let customers down."

"Sorry they were caught defrauding customers", "sorry their share price is down" more like

[dutchman]

Birds Eye withdrawing ready meals in new horse meat scandal



The move follows tests that found 2% of horse DNA in a chilli con carne dish which is sold by Birds Eye in Belgium.

Its spaghetti bolognese, shepherd's pie and lasagne are made by the same Belgian manufacturer, Frigilunch N.V., and are being withdrawn "as a precautionary measure".

In a statement, Birds Eye said: ''We want to reassure you from the testing we have completed that all Birds Eye beef burgers, beef pies and beef platters do not contain horse DNA.

''Regrettably, we have found one product, chilli con carne, produced for us by Frigilunch N.V. and sold in Belgium, that has tested positive for horse DNA at 2%.

''Whilst this is not a food safety issue, it is clearly unacceptable. In accordance with our high standards, we are immediately withdrawing this product from sale.

''As a precautionary measure in the UK and Ireland we will withdraw all other products produced by the same supplier, namely traditional spaghetti bolognese 340g, shepherd's pie 400g and lasagne 400g.''