On 25th March 2013 The Food Safety Authority of Ireland published the latest results of industry tests for the presence of horse meat in beef products and their ingredients. During the period 2nd March to 25th March 2013, 1,228 tests were carried out by industry of which 1,225 samples were found to be negative for the presence of horse meat.
The three positive samples have been published previously and products have already been withdrawn from the market.
This is very positive news from an Irish perspective.
However there are still some problems with horse meat and as recently as last Friday, 22nd March 2013, the UK Food Standards Agency revealed that 100 kg of horse meat imported from Hungary had been labelled as beef. Investigations showed that 40 kg of the product had been sold either at a market stall or at a shop. The remaining meat has been withdrawn from sale. The meat had been sold in 1 kg bags labelled as ‘diced beef’.
As the processed meat sector, and the food industry generally, tries its hardest to regain lost consumer trust it is disappointing to see that more than two months since the first public notification of a problem with horse meat, product continues to be mislabelled.