Horsemeat scare in Europe around 500 companies affected by 50,000 tons of meat recall

**Panda** Thu 11 Apr - 13:33

Horsemeat Scare: 50,000 Tons Of 'Beef' Recall

Around 500 companies across Europe are affected by the
recall - triggered because the source of the meat cannot be traced.

6:05am UK,
Thursday 11 April 2013

Horsemeat scare in Europe around 500 companies affected by 50,000 tons of meat recall Rtr3ds0v-1-522x293

Horsemeat scare in Europe around 500 companies affected by 50,000 tons of meat recall Rtr3ds0v-1-522x293

Video: The exact source of the meat
cannot be established
Enlarge

Dutch authorities have recalled 50,000 tons of meat which has
been sold as beef across Europe because it may contain horsemeat.

Around 370 different companies in Europe and a further 130 in the Netherlands
are affected by the recall because they bought meat from two Dutch trading
wholesalers.

Firms have been told to "take it off the market as a precautionary measure"
and "verify all products".

A small number of UK businesses may be affected, the Foods Standards Agency
said.

The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) has taken
the decision to recall the meat because its exact source cannot be
established.

As a result, "its safety cannot be guaranteed", it said, ordering the
immediate withdrawal of the beef from sale on Wednesday.
The horsemeat scandal has spread across
Europe

The statement said there was no immediate suggestion of any danger to human
health.

"The buyers have probably already processed the meat and sold it on," it
said.

"They, in turn, are obliged to inform their own customers."

The Authority does not know where the meat has ended up, but it may have been
used in frozen products.

The Dutch wholesalers involved are Wiljo Import en Export B.V. and
Vleesgroothandel Willy Selten B.V.

Officials began a large-scale investigation into the country's meat industry
in February following revelations across Europe that horsemeat was being sold as
beef.

Inspectors examining Willy Selten's records found that the origin of the meat
it supplied was unclear.

This makes it impossible for them to confirm whether slaughterhouses have
been acting according to procedure.

"It might contain traces of horsemeat, but we don't know for certain at the
moment if this is the case," a spokeswoman for the NVWA said.
Tests have been carried on products for
contamination

The Authority has warned its foreign counterparts about the recall via a
European rapid alert system.

Sky's Europe Correspondent Robert Nisbet said: "One of these factories that
processes meat was raided on February 15.

"Prosecutors at the time said they believed that the management inside was
shredding up horsemeat then adding it to beef and selling it on as 100%
beef.

"What they (authorities) are saying is that they don't believe that there is
horsemeat in all of this 50,000 tons - but they cannot be sure - therefore they
want to take it off the shelves and subject it to more tests.

"If you remember the previous horsemeat scandal that was detected from Findus
products that was made from Comigel in Luxembourg that was traced back to
horsemeat from two Romanian abattoirs. That horsemeat was then sent to another
processor in the Netherlands.

"So this would suggest that the Netherlands is an area that people are
looking at very closely now in terms of oversight in this massively sprawling
industry that runs across Europe.

"Could it be there that many of the problems have originated since this
horsemeat scandal blew-up back in January?"

A preliminary investigation by the Romanian government suggested paperwork
from the two accused abattoirs was in order and that the livestock entering the
facilities were accurately documented.

It also suggested that the meat which emerged from the slaughterhouses was
properly labelled, and so therefore the substitution happened elsewhere in the
food production chain.

The Europe-wide horsemeat scandal has seen many products pulled from
supermarket shelves - damaging confidence in the continent's vast and complex
food industry.