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11/02/2013
Legal Action Begins Against Horse Meat Contamination Firms
Legal action is set to begin in continental Europe against providers of processed beef products contaminated with horse meat.
Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said reports from France suggested the problem had been linked to two abattoirs in Romania.
Mr Paterson told the BBC a factory in Luxembourg had to issue warnings to 16 different countries. He said he is unaware how widespread the problem was but "we have to be prepared for more unwelcome news".
The controversy surrounding contamination of meat products has also affected firms in the Irish Republic and Poland.
Mr Paterson told the BBC a factory in Luxembourg had to issue warnings to 16 different countries. He said he did not know how widespread the problem was but "we have to be prepared for more unwelcome news".
Paterson said: "This is an issue, for the moment, of labelling and fraud.
"The clear advice from the Food Standards Agency is to continue buying and eating all the processed beef products.
"Should evidence come forward of any serious threat to health obviously we will act very swiftly and that could mean action on imports but at the moment all the evidence is these products are entirely safe."
In January Irish food inspectors found horse meat in some burgers stocked by UK supermarket chains, including Tesco, Iceland and Lidl. Last week Findus UK's frozen beef lasagne was found to contain up to 100% horsemeat.
(GK)
Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said reports from France suggested the problem had been linked to two abattoirs in Romania.
Mr Paterson told the BBC a factory in Luxembourg had to issue warnings to 16 different countries. He said he is unaware how widespread the problem was but "we have to be prepared for more unwelcome news".
The controversy surrounding contamination of meat products has also affected firms in the Irish Republic and Poland.
Mr Paterson told the BBC a factory in Luxembourg had to issue warnings to 16 different countries. He said he did not know how widespread the problem was but "we have to be prepared for more unwelcome news".
Paterson said: "This is an issue, for the moment, of labelling and fraud.
"The clear advice from the Food Standards Agency is to continue buying and eating all the processed beef products.
"Should evidence come forward of any serious threat to health obviously we will act very swiftly and that could mean action on imports but at the moment all the evidence is these products are entirely safe."
In January Irish food inspectors found horse meat in some burgers stocked by UK supermarket chains, including Tesco, Iceland and Lidl. Last week Findus UK's frozen beef lasagne was found to contain up to 100% horsemeat.
(GK)
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Food businesses, including supermarkets and processors, should do more voluntarily to improve country of origin labelling on food products such as meat and dairy, Food Minister Jim Paice said today.
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