Horsemeat row: Don't dump meat, says food minister

People should not throw away frozen meat products in the wake of the revelations about horsemeat in Findus lasagne, the food minister had said.

David Heath advised consumers to carry on eating meat unless told otherwise.

The Food Standards Agency has asked UK firms to test all processed beef foods, but said it did not "suspect there is any health issue with frozen food".

Shadow environment secretary Mary Creagh has expressed fears that other contaminated foods may be found.

Mr Heath said the government's advice was "exactly that" of the FSA's. 

"The FSA says there is no reason to suppose there is a health risk and therefore the advice is to carry on with normal shopping habits until you are told otherwise," he told the BBC.

'Criminal activity'

Earlier this week, a third-party French supplier alerted Findus to concerns that the beef lasagne product did not "conform to specification".

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said Findus had tested the meat in 18 of its beef lasagne products and found 11 meals in which it contained between 60% and 100% horsemeat.

The company has withdrawn the meals and reiterated its apology.

The FSA said it was "highly likely" criminal activity was to blame for the contamination.

 

Chief executive Catherine Brown told the BBC: "I have to say that the two cases of gross contamination that we see here indicates that it is highly likely there has been criminal and fraudulent activity involved.

"We are demanding that food businesses conduct authenticity tests on all beef products, such as beefburgers, meatballs and lasagne, and provide the results to the FSA."

The FSA's website advises consumers: "There is no reason to suspect that there's any health issue with frozen food in general, and we wouldn't advise people to stop eating it."

Peter Kendall, president of the National Farmers' Union, said farmers who had suffered from food scares in the past were "furious" over the horsemeat revelations.

"Why? Because we've raised our game. We go through lots of hoops now, we have lots of regulatory burdens to face. As farmers we've set up our own voluntary traceability scheme as independent inspection," he said.

He urged consumers to buy British meat to be sure of what they are eating.

Findus is the latest company to be caught up in the controversy surrounding contamination of meat products, which has affected firms in the UK, Irish Republic, Poland and France.

Last month, Irish food inspectors announced they had found horsemeat in some burgers stocked by a number of UK supermarket chains, including Tesco, Iceland and Lidl.

Ms Creagh expressed fears that there were further revelations to come from the food industry.

"What we have had over the last four weeks is a constant drip, drip, drip of revelations from the food industry, from the Food Standards Agency, and what I am worried about is that the more they are testing for horse, the more they are finding," she said.

She suggested further guidance was needed on whether people should eat other processed foods labelled as containing beef.

"I certainly wouldn't, but I'm waiting for the government, the experts, the scientists, to tell us and issue proper clear advice for consumers," she said.

"It's simply not good enough for ministers to sit at their desks and pretend this isn't happening."

Mr Heath said the FSA was undertaking the "biggest testing of beef products that has ever taken place" in order to offer reassurance.

'Criminality or negligence'

A Downing Street spokeswoman described the latest revelations as "very distasteful", adding: "There seems to be acts of criminality at the heart of this."

On Thursday, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said the government was working closely with businesses to "root out any illegal activity" and enforce regulations.

"Consumers can be confident that we will take whatever action we consider necessary if we discover evidence of criminality or negligence," he said.

Police in the UK and Europe were involved in the investigations into the contaminated products, the FSA said.

In a statement, the French Ministry of Agriculture said: "As far as we're concerned, this is an issue of fraud rather than food safety. For us, the most important thing in this case is the lack of transparency, which constitutes fraud."

Findus said all its other products had been tested and were not affected.

 

In its latest statement it said it was "sorry that we have let people down".

"We are acting to make sure this cannot happen again," Findus said.

A statement from the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) said it "deplores the latest reported incidents of gross contamination of some processed meat products".

"The BMPA has urged its members to be vigilant, and to review their raw material and ingredients-sourcing procedures in order to ensure that they meet their responsibilities to produce safe food and to describe and label their products accurately."

The supermarket chain Aldi was also advised to withdraw its Today's Special Frozen Beef Lasagne and Today's Special Frozen Spaghetti Bolognese by French supplier Comigel.

 

An Aldi spokesman said the meals had been withdrawn immediately and it was carrying out its own investigations.

"The products will remain withdrawn from sale until we are confident that the meat content complies with the specification presented to us," he said, adding that customers could claim refunds by returning packaged products.