Dive Summary:
- On Monday, the Irish government announcement that DNA testing revealed beef offcuts imported from Poland contains as much as 75% horse meat.
- Ireland's Food and Safety Authority ordered DNA testing after 35% of factory-made burgers contained traces of horse meat and Tesco, a major supermarket chain, discovered 29% horse meat in its bargain-brand burgers.
- Although horse is safe to eat and costs significantly less than beef, the troubling discovery has sparked a media controversy about the accuracy of food labels and caused the suspension of Rangeland Food's and Silvercrests' processing plants.
From the article:
"... Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney said police have joined Ireland's 3-week-old investigation into why horsemeat has been detected in some Irish-produced burgers and the chief suspect, Poland, has yet to supply any adequate explanation.
Ireland's Food Safety Authority ordered the original DNA tests on Irish-produced burgers to determine whether they contained other meats beside beef. The discovery of horsemeat poses no danger to consumers but highlights the inaccuracy of food labels on some processed meat products and points to potential fraud in the industry. Horsemeat costs a fraction of beef. ..."