Ireland: Horsemeat found in burgers
2013-01-16 10:32
London - The Irish food safety watchdog said on Tuesday that it had
discovered traces of horse and pig DNA in burger products sold by some of the
country's biggest supermarkets, including a burger sold by global retailer
Tesco that authorities said was made of roughly 30% horse.
Ireland's Agriculture Minister Simon
Coveney blamed a lone meat processor in County Monaghan, on the border with
Northern Ireland, for the horsemeat find, which he called "totally
unacceptable".
Coveney told state broadcaster RTE that an imported additive used to make
the burger appears to have been packed with horsemeat.
The additive was "either falsely labelled,
or somebody made a mistake, or somebody was behaving recklessly. That allowed
some horsemeat product to come into the system that shouldn't have been here",
he said, adding that veterinarians had been dispatched to the meat processor
and other factories to conduct more tests.
"A mistake has been made here, it has been flagged by our systems as it
should have been, and we will take the appropriate action to ensure it doesn't
happen again," Coveney said.
Damage control
UK-based Tesco PLC apologised for its
horsemeat-heavy burger and said it was pulling Tesco-brand burgers from stores
in Britain and Ireland as a precaution.
The find is unwelcome news for the world's fourth-largest food retailer,
known in the United States under its Fresh & Easy brand.
"The presence of illegal meat in our
products is extremely serious," the company said in a statement. "Our
customers have the right to expect that food they buy is produced to the
highest standards. ... We understand that many of our customers will be concerned
by this news, and we apologise sincerely for any distress."
But the bad news wasn't just for Tesco.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland also
said on Tuesday that it had found traces of pig DNA in 85% of the burger
products it tested in Irish supermarkets, including those operated by British
frozen food specialist Iceland, German discounters Lidl and Aldi, and
supermarket giant Spar. Local Irish chains also carried beef with horse or pig
DNA. Many, like the Oakhurst Beef Burgers carried by Aldi, carried both pig and
horse DNA.
But most of the traces were miniscule.
For example, the authority said it found 0.1% horse DNA content in Iceland's
own-brand quarter-pounder patties.
Concerned
The watchdog says the unusual animal DNA
in Ireland's burgers isn't a threat to anyone's health but does "raise
some concerns".
"In Ireland, it is not in our
culture to eat horsemeat and therefore, we do not expect to find it in a
burger," said Alan Reilly, the authority's chief executive.
"Likewise, for some religious groups or people who abstain from eating
pig meat, the presence of traces of pig DNA is unacceptable."
Meat exports are big business in Ireland,
and opposition politician Eamon O Cuiv, warned that the news "could have a
damaging effect on the Irish agriculture sector if not dealt with quickly and
comprehensively".
- AP
