Horse Meat Mixed in With Beef Tinned in the Eu
Now Dutch recall 50,000 tons of 'beef' sold across Europe amid fears it contains horse
- Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority issued recall
- British Food Standards Authority says some affected meat did come to UK
- Comes as UK Food Standards Agency found veterinary drug in corned beef
- Asda removed the £1.54 tins from stores across Britain last month
Dutch authorities are recalling some 50,000 tons of meat sold as beef across Europe that may contain horse meat.
Today Britain's Food Standards Agency (FSA) confirmed that the meat did come to factories supplying supermarkets in the UK, and said it was trying to establish how much.
The vast recall came as officials named Dutch firm Wiljo Import en Export B.V. and Vleesgroothandel Willy Selten B.V. as those who supplied the meat.
The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority said 370 different companies around Europe and 132 more in the Netherlands were affected by the recall because they bought meat from two Dutch trading companies.
Beef... or is it? Today's news about the dubious meat coming out of Holland is the latest of several food scandals
The food authority said in a statement that because the exact source of the meat cannot be traced 'its safety cannot be guaranteed', and said the Dutch authorities had 'no concrete indications that there is a risk to public health'.
Miss Filon said the recall covers meat dating back from the very beginning of 2011 up to February 15 this year, when the companies at the heart of the recall were placed under heightened scrutiny and faced criminal investigations.
She conceded that - because the recall dates back more than two years - some of the meat 'may already have been consumed'.
The British FSA said: 'We have been informed by the Dutch authorities that a small number of UK businesses may potentially have received products from the company implicated in their investigation.
'The FSA is following up with these businesses as a matter of urgency to determine if they have received products from the Dutch company.'
The suspect shipments began in January 2011, according to the European Commission.
A spokesman said: 'At this stage, the origin of the meat is unknown but the Netherlands authorities acknowledged that horse meat had been mixed with beef.'
Other c ountries known to have bought the affected meat include France, Germany and Spain.
Miss Filon said authorities were bound by law to recall the meat if it is unclear where exactly it came from.
She said: 'If meat has an unclear source then the law - the general food law - says it is no longer fit for human or animal food.'
Dutch authorities began a large-scale investigation into the country's meat industry in February after the horse meat scandal broke across Europe.
This afternoon's shock news is just the latest scandal in a long list concerning the dubious origins of some foodstuffs.
Supermarket giant Asda recalled all corned beef from its budget range last month after trace of a horse drug were found
Yesterday, the Food Standards Agency said that the veterinary painkilling drug phenylbutazone - or bute - had been found in Asda Smart Price Corned Beef.
Asda had already withdrawn tens of thousands of its own brand corned beef last month after it was found to contain up to 50 per cent horsemeat.
The supermarket giant removed the £1.54 products from stores across Britain on March 8 - and tests this week showed quantities of horse DNA above trace levels.
Leicestershire County Council found the ingredients of one batch of the 340g tins were half horse, but Leeds-based Asda has insisted it only found levels of up to five per cent.
Asda, which last month said it had carried out more than 700 tests on products during the horsemeat scandal, has had eight products that have been positive for at least traces of horse.
A spokesman for Asda said the chain has 'taken a belt and braces approach' to testing for horse DNA and quickly removed any products from its shelves 'whenever we've had any concerns'.
Andrew Rhodes, director of operations at the Food Standards Agency, acknowledged it takes time to test for bute once horsemeat is found in a product.
Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, he said: 'What we have found in this positive test result is a very low level of (bute)... which is only really just above the limit of detection.
'It's very unlikely to (do harm). As the chief medical officer has said... it's extremely rare people have an adverse reaction to phenylbutazone.
'This is considerably lower than a therapeutic dose and you would have to consume enormous quantities of meat, way more than anyone could physically consume, to get near a therapeutic dose.'
Mr Rhodes said it was important to understand how the product came to be contaminated and how it came to have bute in it.
'If someone has done something which is illegal, and not taken due measures to prevent that happening, then they can face sanctions,' he said.
'But we need to determine exactly what has happened in this case before we can determine whether that will happen or not - which is true of any of the cases we have seen.'
Supermarket: The Walmart-owned chain with 500-plus stores, whose Smart Price Corned Beef is manufactured by French supplier Toupnot, has also scraped its Chosen By You Corned Beef line (file picture)
The Walmart-owned chain with 500-plus stores, whose Smart Price Corned Beef is manufactured by French supplier Toupnot, has also scraped its Chosen By You Corned Beef line.
Europe's horsemeat scandal erupted in January, when testing in Ireland revealed that some beef products also contained equine DNA, and the problems then spread across the continent.
The scandal ensnared numerous well-known brands, prompting product withdrawals, consumer concerns and government investigations into the region's complex food-processing chains.
City of London Police fraud experts will lead the probe into the horsemeat scandal, co-ordinating the response to what ministers have claimed is an international criminal conspiracy.
In the Commons last month, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson described the adulteration of food products with horsemeat as a 'criminal conspiracy which covers 23 countries'.
Ade McKeon, Asda's director responsible for the quality of all the store's branded products, said: 'I know our customers will be just as concerned about this news as we are. Even at such a low level, it is totally unacceptable.
'I can reassure our customers that we are working closely with the FSA and our suppliers to deliver a wide ranging and rigorous programme of testing, to be sure that the products we sell are exactly what it says on the label.'
'If someone has done something which is illegal, and not taken due measures to prevent that happening, then they can face sanctions'
Andrew Rhodes, director of operations at the Food Standards Agency
An Asda spokesman said: 'We have taken an extremely cautious approach since the very beginning and have carried out more than 700 tests, moving swiftly to remove any products from our shelves whenever we've had the smallest concerns.
'Our commitment to you is to continue to test our products regularly and update you with the very latest news as soon as we can.
'In March 2013 we withdrew tinned Smart Price Corned Beef (340g) after receiving a positive test for horse DNA above the one per cent trace level set by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
'Today, 9th April 9, tests on further batches have shown a positive result for very low levels of horse medication called phenylbutazone, also known as bute, at four parts per billion.
'The FSA has reassured us that the quantities we've found pose a low risk to human health. They say: "Bute is not allowed to enter the food chain; however, even if people have eaten products which contain contaminated horse meat, the risk to health is very low."
'Although there is a very low health risk, we are recalling this product. This simply means that we ask anyone who has tinned Smart Price Corned Beef (340g) in their cupboards at home to bring it back into store for a full refund.
'The tinned Chosen By You Corned Beef (340g) product, also withdrawn in March, has not tested positive for phenylbutazone. However as a precaution it is also being recalled as it is made in the same factory.
'We want you to have complete confidence in the food you buy at Asda and we are happy to refund any product you're not 100 per cent happy with.'
A spokesman for the FSA said: 'The Food Standards Agency has been informed by Asda that very low levels of the veterinary medicine phenylbutazone, known as bute, have been found in 340g tins of its Smart Price Corned Beef. '
Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2306915/Dutch-recall-50-000-tons-beef-contain-horse-horse-drug-bute-Asda-corned-beef.html
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