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| 01 mar 2013 |
17:44 |
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Contaminated products: now Birds Eye and Taco Bell
Birds Eye and Taco Bell have admitted for the first time that their beef in the UK contains horsemeat after it was found in three of their products.
Birds Eye had previously withdrawn the ready meals as a precaution after horse DNA was found in chilli con carne in Belgium.
But the latest rounds of tests show that Birds Eye traditional spaghetti bolognese and beef lasagna contain at least 1% horsemeat.
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- Birds Eye have confirmed for the first time that two of their products contain horse meat DNA
- Mexican fast food restaurant Taco Bell have also found horse DNA in their ground beef taco filling.
- All products have now been withdrawn from sale.
- Birds eye released a statement that said: ' As a precautionary measure last week in the UK and Ireland we withdraw all other beef products produced by the same supplier, namely Traditional Spaghetti Bolognese 340g, Shepherd’s Pie 400g and Beef Lasagne 400g.
- 'We have now conducted further tests on these products and discovered the Spaghetti Bolognese and Beef Lasagne products did contain low levels of horse DNA.
- 'Going forward we are introducing a new on-going DNA testing programme that will ensure no minced beef meat product can leave our facilities without first having been cleared by DNA testing.'
- Taco Bell, which has three UK franchises, has not been involved in the scandal until now.
- A spokesperson for Taco Bell said: 'Once we learned of this issue, we immediately voluntarily tested our product for our 3 Taco Bell restaurants in the UK.
- 'Based on that testing, we learned ingredients supplied to us from one supplier in Europe tested positive for horsemeat.
- 'We immediately withdrew it from sale, and discontinued purchase of that meat and contacted the FSA with this information.
- 'We apologise to our customers and take this matter very seriously as food quality is our highest priority.'
- The tests, which is the third round since the start of the meat scandal, also found horse meat in catering supplier Brakes' spicy minced beef skewer.
- Brakes supply food to the House of Commons.
- This is the latest development in the horsemeat scandal that has shaken the food industry.
- IKEA were forced to withdraw their famous meatballs after they were found to contain horse.
- Authorities across Europe have started doing random DNA checks after traces of horse meat turned up in frozen supermarket meals such as burgers and lasagna beginning last month.
- The European Union's agriculture ministers gathered in Brussels to discuss the widening scandal's fallout, with some member states pressing for tougher rules to regain consumer confidence.
- Meanwhile, shoppers are abandoning the frozen food aisles as sales of burgers and ready meals plummet in the wake of the horse meat scandal.
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