March 29, 2024

Europe Finds Horse DNA in 5% of Tested Beef

Results from more than 7,000 tests carried out by the 27 countries in the union found horse DNA in about 5 percent of samples, while phenylbutazone, the banned drug used as an equine painkiller, was discovered in about 0.5 percent of samples.

The figures, published by the European Commission, gave the first detailed picture of the extent of the problem.

Tonio Borg, the European commissioner for health and consumer policy, said the findings showed that it was “a matter of food fraud and not of food safety.”

But he added in an e-mail statement: “Restoring the trust and confidence of European consumers and trading partners in our food chain following this fraudulent labeling scandal is now of vital importance for the European economy, given that the food sector is the largest single economic sector” in the European Union.

Mr. Borg said the commission would propose new regulations in the coming months. The scandal led to products worth millions of euros being withdrawn from stores. It has also highlighted the inability of producers to guarantee the ingredients in processed meat products.

Because the statistics were supplied by food safety authorities in individual nations, which sampled different numbers of beef products, there was not sufficient data to make comprehensive comparisons.

France, however, tested 353 products labeled beef, of which 47 contained horse DNA; Greece tested 288 products and found horse meat in 36; and Germany tested 878 samples and detected horse meat in 29. Britain found the highest level of the equine painkiller — in 14 of 836 samples.

About 20 percent of horse meat sold and used in Europe comes from horses imported from North America, and the Humane Society of the United States warned that testing only for phenylbutazone was inadequate to ensuring food safety.

The animal rights organization maintains a 29-page list of other drugs given to horses in the United States that either are a threat to or have not been tested for their impact on human health. The European Union, for example, bans from meat production animals treated with thyrostats, which are licensed for use in horses for respiratory infections but also to promote the growth of lean tissue.

Another example, Firocoxib, is specifically labeled, “Do not use in horses intended for human consumption.” Veterinarians in the United States recommend it to treat or prevent inflammation in horses.

“The European Union has failed to seek tests for a whole host of other banned veterinary drugs which are commonly administered to horses and is thereby failing the public by allowing meat from those animals to be sold in the European Union in contravention of its own food safety and consumer protection regulations,” the Humane Society said in a statement.

The program of tests was agreed to after the discovery of horse meat in frozen lasagna in February. The maker of the lasagna, Findus, said it withdrew the product after Comigel, its French supplier, raised concerns about the type of meat used. Meatballs sold by Ikea were also withdrawn.

Over all, the European Commission said 7,259 tests were conducted. In all, 193 tests, or 4.66 percent, revealed traces of horse DNA, and 16 showed positive traces of the painkiller, equivalent to 0.51 percent of the samples, the commission said.

The findings increased pressure for tighter regulation of the food industry. Though rules require fresh beef to be labeled with its origin, these do not apply to processed products.

“We urgently need to put E.U. rules in place on ‘country of origin’ labeling for meat in processed foods,” said Glenis Willmott, the food and health spokeswoman for the British Labour Party in the European Parliament.

“It’s only this kind of regulation which will force manufacturers to get a grip on their supply chain,” she said, adding that it was “shocking to see how widespread the horse meat scandal is.”

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/17/business/global/european-study-affirms-role-of-fraud-in-horsemeat-scandal.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Nestlé Removes 2 Products in Horse Meat Scandal

Nestlé said late Monday that it would remove two chilled pasta products, Buitoni Beef Ravioli and Beef Tortellini, from Italian and Spanish supermarket shelves immediately. Meanwhile, Lasagnes à la Bolognaise Gourmandes, a frozen product made for the catering trade in France, will also be withdrawn and replaced with a product containing meat made from 100 percent beef.

The company added that it had increased testing after the discovery of horse meat in British foods and “traces” of horse DNA in two products made with beef supplied by a German company,  H. J. Schypke.The levels exceeded the threshold used by the British Food Standards Agency in testing to indicate that a substance had been adulterated, so the products would be withdrawn from the market, Nestlé said.

‘‘There is no food safety issue, but the mislabeling of products means they fail to meet the very high standards consumers expect from us,’’ Nestlé added.

The involvement of Nestlé, based in Switzerland, is another significant act in a fast-moving drama that is prompting Europeans to question the contents of their meals.

Nestlé knows only too well the importance of image, having once been the object of a boycott after being embroiled in a controversy over the marketing of baby milk in developing countries.

In a statement, the company said that it did not use any meat from Europe for its food sold in the United States. “We have also requested and received confirmation from all our meat suppliers that they do not provide Nestlé USA with any meat from the affected countries and companies,” the company said.

Although the horse meat crisis has been seen mainly as an issue of fraud and mislabeling, it emerged last week that a powerful equine painkiller, phenylbutazone, or bute, may have entered the food chain. Eight horses slaughtered for food in Britain tested positive for the drug. Six of those carcasses had already been exported to France for use in human food.

In Britain, food manufacturers have embarked on a widespread program of tests to try to stem a crisis of confidence in products originating in a long and bewilderingly complex supply chain.

Last Friday, the British Food Standards Agency released the results of 2,501 tests conducted on beef products by the British food industry, of which 29 contained more than 1 percent horse meat, its threshold for adulteration.But, just as that information was released, it emerged that food intended for school meals had also contained horse meat, and a blame game erupted over who was responsible.

On Tuesday, the British Food Standards Agency announced a big expansion of its own testing program, conducted by local authority food inspectors, so that a total of 514 products would be sampled. These will now include some canned products and items like gelatine, beef dripping and stock cubes, the agency said in a statement.

The European Union has also announced an increase in food testing, and there have been growing calls for more regulation from Brussels.

Though tough traceability rules for fresh beef products were introduced after the crisis over mad cow disease more than a decade ago, a similar regime is not in place for processed food.

‘‘What has been discovered in recent days is large-scale fraud,’’ said Richard Seeber, the coordinator for the center-right group in the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee of the European Parliament. ‘‘This is a clear breach of current European food labeling rules. This is why the first thing we need is more controls and better enforcement of the existing rules.’’

Glenis Willmott, the leader of the British Labour Party’s delegation to the European Parliament, said the response of the bloc’s executive, the European Commission, had been inadequate.‘‘The horse meat scandal should result in a Europe-wide comprehensive legislation on ‘origin labeling’ for all meat in processed foods, and a better E.U. enforcement procedure,’’  Ms. Willmott said.

Katie Thomas contributed reporting from New York.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/20/world/europe/nestle-pulls-2-products-in-horse-meat-scandal.html?partner=rss&emc=rss