Hi °C | Lo °C TESTING on Findus beef lasagne has revealed some of the ready meals were made entirely from horse meat
The horse meat scandal widened last night as the food giant confirmed horse meat had been found in some of its beef products manufactured in France.
The company has withdrawn a number of beef lasagne products from Irish and British supermarkets as a result.
The UK Food Safety Authority later said tests on 18 beef lasagne products found 11 meals contained 60pc to 100pc horse meat.
Findus said in a statement: "Following a thorough investigation, Findus UK can confirm that testing of its beef lasagne, produced by a third-party supplier and not by Findus, has revealed some product containing horse meat."
It said it believed it had fully resolved the supply chain issue, and its beef lasagne would be in stores again soon.
Tesco and Aldi also withdrew some own-brand beef lasagne and pasta products this week, which were manufactured at the same Comigel plant in France that supplied Findus.
Findus said customers in Ireland who purchased the affected product could contact its helpline at 1800 800500.
Meanwhile, investigators in Poland insisted yesterday they have found no evidence backing Irish claims that it was the source of horse meat that ended up in burgers here.
Tensions have emerged in recent days between Ireland and Poland, both major meat producers whose industries could be damaged by the horseburger scandal.
Jaroslaw Naze, deputy head of Poland's General Veterinary Inspectorate, called on Ireland to hand over more documentary evidence. He asked for labels on the suspected meat supplies, so that Polish officials can complete their own investigation.
"I need the details from Ireland," he said. The Polish authorities said they had carried out tests on 14 meat samples from a company there which shipped meat directly to Ireland, but all had tested negative for horse meat.
"What we have today is that there are no signs that the horse meat was in Polish beef," Mr Naze said. "My investigation shows that the beef was beef."
The Polish authorities said that the company there which shipped the beef to Ireland had been refused permission by the Irish authorities to collect samples of the suspect consignment of meat, or to check the labelling.
The Department of Agriculture here said that Ireland's Chief Veterinary Officer had invited his Polish counterpart to send over officials "and we await his reply".
Meanwhile, Rangeland Foods in Co Monaghan resumed production yesterday after investigations found no further evidence of horse meat on the premises.
Scandal
The company was caught up in the horse meat scandal after an imported meat ingredient destined for its burgers was found to be 75pc horse meat.
However, the firm insisted that none of this meat had actually gone into the production of burgers, which it supplies to the catering trade in Ireland and overseas, and said the department had given it the green light to resume production.
Rangeland said it was a victim of fraud, and that "huge reputational damage" had been caused.
"We will now concentrate on securing the future of the 60 plus jobs that Rangeland provides in Monaghan," chief executive Jim Lucey said.
Kerry group alarmed as horse meat scandal drags on
Irish Independent
