A TARGETED study carried out by the Food Standards Authority of Ireland has revealed that a number of beef burger and beef meals available from retail outlets in Ireland contained horse DNA. Following the revelations within the study, the FSAI states this raises concerns in relation to the traceability of meat ingredients and products entering the food chain. A total of 27 beef burger products were analysed with 10 of the 27 products (37 per cent) testing positive for horse DNA and 23 (85 per cent) testing positive for pig DNA.
In addition, 31 beef meal products (cottage pie, beef curry pie, lasagne, etc) were analysed of which 21 were positive for pig DNA and all were negative for horse DNA. Traces of horse DNA were also detected in batches of raw ingredients, including some imported from The Netherlands and Spain.
The beef burger products which tested positive for horse DNA were produced by two processing plants (Liffey Meats and Silvercrest Foods) in Ireland and one plant (Dalepak Hambleton) in the UK. They were on sale in Tesco, Dunnes Stores, Lidl, Aldi and Iceland. In nine of the ten beef burger samples from these retailers, horse DNA was found at very low levels.
However, in one sample from Tesco, the level of horse DNA indicated that horsemeat accounted for approximately 29 per cent relative to the beef content. The FSAI is working with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and the processing plants and retailers involved. The retailers have stated that they are removing all implicated batches from sale. In addition, Silvercrest Foods has informed the FSAI that it is withdrawing all products from sale and replacing them with new products.
According to Prof Alan Reilly, Chief Executive, FSAI, whilst these findings pose no risk to public health they do raise some concerns. He states: “The products we have identified as containing horse DNA and/or pig DNA do not pose any food safety risk and consumers should not be worried. Consumers who have purchased any of the implicated products can return them to their retailer.”
“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. In Ireland, it is not in our culture to eat horsemeat and therefore, we do not expect to find it in a burger. Likewise, for some religious groups or people who abstain from eating pig meat, the presence of traces of pig DNA is unacceptable”, concluded Prof Reilly.
