Findus beef lasagne contained up to 100% horsemeat, FSA says

LONDON: -- The meat of some beef lasagne products recalled by Findus earlier this week was 100% horsemeat, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has said.

On Monday Findus withdrew from retailers its beef lasagne in 320g, 360g and 500g sizes as a precaution.

newsjsEnvironment Secretary Owen Paterson said the findings were "completely unacceptable", but Findus said it did not believe it was a food safety issue.

The FSA said companies would now be required to test their beef products.

"In order to get to the bottom of this, we're going to be requiring every company to test every product line," Catherine Brown, the FSA's chief executive, told the BBC.

Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21375594

-- BBC 2013-02-08

Oh where do i start?

I'll have a double "Mr Ed" burger and fries

I just had a steak and my 1K run turned into several furlongs!

I dont want to beat a dead horse so i'll let others contribute

Nothing wrong with horse meat. We are carnivores. The largest and best T-bone steak I ever ate was in Cap d'Antibes in the S. of France. It was horse, and delicious.

I would have more reservations eating chocolate covered cockroach again, however. (- - or MacDonalds!)

May not be dangerous but it is false advertising. Perhaps relabel it 'horse lasagne" and see how many takers.

Last time I had horse meat it gave me the trots

I heard a girl from a gogo bar ate one of these burgers

(wait for it........)

Now she feels whorable

On a serious note, I agree theres nothing wrong with horse meat. but if the system cant even guarantee what kind of meat, what can they guarantee regarding its safety?

I recall similar issue in the US, and other areas, so its not a unique occurrence It happens when companies and people put profits above everything else.

better than rat meat!

Then again, who knows what's really in that big mac...

Edited February 8, 201313 yr by eTiMaGo

Horses for courses?

Nothing wrong with horse meat. We are carnivores. The largest and best T-bone steak I ever ate was in Cap d'Antibes in the S. of France. It was horse, and delicious.

I would have more reservations eating chocolate covered cockroach again, however. (- - or MacDonalds!)

Horse Tartar: really delicious, much better than beef.

This lasagne clearly talks to much, its made itself hoarse

No mention in the above that Burger King in the UK has dropped one of their burger suppliers that was involved in providing the horse meat-tainted products that have been recalled by the various other companies, including Tesco and Aldi.

The Reuters report, oddly, doesn't seem to clearly indicate whether any of the horse meat had made its way into Burger King's products in the UK. The supplier they dropped is Silvercrest Foods from Ireland.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/24/us-britain-beef-burgerking-idUSBRE90N0EX20130124

So it's delicious. Great. There are lots of delicious people in the word. Do you need to eat ALL of them? No horse for me, thank you very much.

And more from the Daily Mail:

It emerged today Burger King told its restaurant managers to put all beefburgers from Silvercrest in boxes marked with an X after the fast food giant ended its deal with APB's Silvercrest plant.

The chain issued the memo just three days after insisting it would not be withdrawing any lines.

It warned that its boycott of Silvercrest could lead to a shortage of some products until alternative suppliers are found.

Stores were told to put boxes in a safe area and write 'Do Not Use' to top, according to an internal memo seen by The Sun.

They were also told to 'clean and sanitise' pans and sinks and throw away dishcloths used in the process.

But vice president Tracy Gehlan told 485 restaurant managers not to remove the burgers until replacements from a different supplier had arrived. The memo said worried customers were to be told Burger King was taking all the 'necessary precautions' to ensure quality.

Burger King said in a statement: 'Food quality and safety are a top priority for Burger King restaurants globally.

'We have stringent and overlapping controls to ensure that the products we sell to our customers meet our strict quality standards.

'Silvercrest, a subsidiary of ABP Food Group, has been under investigation for potential contamination of some retail products.

'This company also supplied 100 per cent pure beef patties for our restaurants in the UK and Ireland.

'While this is not a food safety issue according to findings from the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), upon learning of these allegations, we immediately launched an independent investigation that is currently ongoing.

'As a precaution, this past weekend we decided to replace all Silvercrest products in the UK and Ireland with products from another approved Burger King supplier. 'This is a voluntary and precautionary measure. We are working diligently to identify suppliers that can produce 100 per cent pure Irish and British beef products that meet our high quality standards.

'Unfortunately, this may mean that some of our products are temporarily unavailable.

'We apologise to our guests for any inconvenience. However, we want to let them know that they can trust us to serve only the highest quality products. 'We take this matter seriously and will continue with our investigations to determine how this situation occurred and what lessons can be learned.'

Ten million burgers have so far been taken off supermarket shelves across Ireland and the UK as a result of the scandal.

Suppliers in the Netherlands and Spain have been identified as the possible sources for incorrectly labelled ingredients.

Work at the Silvercrest plant in County Monaghan, Ireland, was stopped after new tests last week revealed contamination.

The plant and another of the company's subsidiaries, Dalepak Hambleton in Yorkshire, had already supplied beefburgers with traces of equine DNA to supermarkets including Tesco, according to test results. One product was found to contain almost 30 per cent horse meat.

But the company had insisted that meat for Burger King products was stored and processed separately and that there is no evidence to suggest that any of the chain's products had been contaminated as well.

Tesco took out full-page adverts in a number of national newspapers apologising for selling the contaminated beefburgers, and Aldi, Lidl and Iceland also withdrew burgers from sale after they were found to contain horsemeat.

Another company, Liffey Meats, based in Co Cavan, Ireland, was also found to be supplying products to supermarkets with traces of horse DNA.

http://www.dailymail...l#axzz2KIaRTRGZ

Edited February 8, 201313 yr by webfact
//font fixed

Had some Dutch friends over for dinner many many years ago.

We served lamb.

They just absolutely gagged at this but could have eaten their traditionally acceptable horse meat.

Seems like lambs/sheep were strictly for wool and pets.

Have never forgotten this and now the subject looms again.

Edited February 8, 201313 yr by Jing Joe

Last time I had horse meat it gave me the trots

... I certainly have no 'Neighhhh' problem with this.. People should perhaps get off their 'high-horses'....

Last time I had horse meat it gave me the trots

... I certainly have no 'Neighhhh' problem with this.. People should perhaps get off their 'high-horses'....

Maybe Gallop should do a poll on the matter?

Problem with horse is its pumped more full of ketamine than your average student nightclub.

May not be dangerous but it is false advertising. Perhaps relabel it 'horse lasagne" and see how many takers.

Why not just sell it as 'lasagne' and not specify the flavour!

Problem with horse is its pumped more full of ketamine than your average student nightclub.

That means that the Thai government will ban it,

claiming it to be a "date rape meat"

Tesco took out full-page adverts in a number of national newspapers apologising for selling the contaminated beefburgers, and Aldi, Lidl and Iceland also withdrew burgers from sale after they were found to contain horsemeat.

From a couple of those stores finding a beefburger with any meat in it comes as a surprise.

Oh where do i start?

I'll have a double "Mr Ed" burger and fries

I just had a steak and my 1K run turned into several furlongs!

I dont want to beat a dead horse so i'll let others contribute

Bubble and Squeak, Toad in the Hole, Spotted Dick, Bangers and Mash and Hormonally Enhance Horse ... hard to choose which is most likely to cause an adverse reaction. Fortunately the British aren't known for obsessing about hygiene, personal or in food prep, so their stomachs probably have an innate immunity to things like veterinary meds & equine diseases anyway.

This is the same country that brought us the ever popular Bovine spongiform encephalopathy or at least kept it in the news.

Edited February 8, 201313 yr by Suradit69

Problem with horse is its pumped more full of ketamine than your average student nightclub.

That means that the Thai government will ban it,

claiming it to be a "date rape meat"

No matter what the topic

Problem with horse is its pumped more full of ketamine than your average student nightclub.

That means that the Thai government will ban it,

claiming it to be a "date rape meat"

No matter what the subject matter, including the deplorable standards of food processing in UK, it only takes a few posts before it's twisted into some more Thai bashing ... and as usual the bashing comes totally from the imagination of the unimaginative.

Think we must have a Gallup poll over this.

Think we must have a Gallup poll over this.

Hold your horses... JT beat you to it in post #16... hope that doesn't give you a long face....

Edited February 8, 201313 yr by richard_smith237

Think we must have a Gallup poll over this.

Hold your horses... JT beat you to it in post #16... hope that doesn't give you a long face....

Hmmmmmmmmmm, I'll have odds on JT will/has won by a head.

Well this should stirrup some controversy.At least for those involved it's a real night mare.

Nothing wrong with serving horse so long as the menu includes a rider.

How is it eaten? .... in a creamy canter-lope sauce accompanied by salad with ranch dressing?

Nothing wrong with serving horse so long as the menu includes a rider.

How is it eaten? .... in a creamy canter-lope sauce accompanied by salad with ranch dressing?

Perhaps you would prefer a saddle.

I heard a girl from a gogo bar ate one of these burgers

(wait for it........)

Now she feels whorable

On a serious note, I agree theres nothing wrong with horse meat. but if the system cant even guarantee what kind of meat, what can they guarantee regarding its safety?

I recall similar issue in the US, and other areas, so its not a unique occurrence It happens when companies and people put profits above everything else.

I only lived in the U.S. for 60 years, but I have never heard of any store selling hose meat to anyone. It is illegal in the states.

So it's been around the track a few times

Horse meat is not bad but I like to know what I'm eating before I eat it