'Lamb' kebab 60pc chicken and 30pc beef

An investigation carried out in unnamed fast-food joints around the capital revealed that "undeclared" meat was present in seven dishes out of 20 that were sold as lamb.

Six of the 'lamb' kebabs tested were 60pc chicken and 30pc beef.

Safety

"When you order a lamb kebab you expect to get a lamb kebab and not a beef and chicken kebab," said Prof Alan Reilly, chief executive of the Food Safety Authority (FSA).

Falsely advertising dishes is not a food safety issue, but it is misleading for potential diners warned the FSA.

Meats such as horse, goat, pig or turkey were not found in the kebabs that were analysed.

The fraud investigation took place at the same time as a probe into beef products in the wake of the horsemeat scandal last year.

Discoveries of horse DNA in products sold as beef rocked the Irish food industry.

The scandal began at Silvercrest Foods in Co Monaghan, which sold its beef products to retailing giants including Aldi and Tesco.

Consumer trust and the importance of strict controls are the key lessons the food industry should have learned from the episode, said Prof Reilly.

In the latest tests, 52 beef products from pasta dishes to ready-made children's meals were tested by the food safety authority for horse DNA and no evidence of it was found.

The survey was conducted after the European Commission ordered EU states to carry out follow-up investigations after the horsemeat episode.

Clean

Sample sizes for the investigations were based on population sizes. Ireland and the UK returned "clean".

Just under 1pc of products tested EU-wide showed traces of horsemeat, and these instances are being investigated.

EU Commissioner for Health Tonio Borg welcomed the new results which showed a huge decrease in the mislabelling of meat products.

hnews@herald.ie