Horse Burgers

On January 15, 2013 traces of horse meat DNA were found in frozen beef burgers at several Irish and British Supermarkets. These supermarkets included Tesco, Asda, Dunnes Stores, Lidl, Aldi and Iceland (supermarket). The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) conducted tests on a selection of beef and salami products with best before dates between June 2012 and March 2014.
Of 27 beef products tested 37% were positive for horse DNA and 85% were positive for pig DNA. Of 31 beef meals products tested 21 were positive for pig DNA but all were negative for horse DNA. 19 salami products were tested but were negative for all foreign DNA.
Of the 37% of beef products tested positive for horse DNA, Tesco Everyday Value Beef Burgers tested at 29.1%. All other reported brands had >0.3% horse DNA. These products originated from Liffey Meats and Silvercrest Foods in Ireland and Dalepak Hambilton food processing plant in the United Kingdom. Trace amounts of horse DNA was also found in raw ingredients shipped imported from Spain and the Netherlands.
The FSAI had announced that they are working with the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the processing plants to investigate the matter. Tesco, Asda and Aldi have removed all the offending products from stock^[4]. Aldi is conducting their own separate investigation.
Horse meat is not a regular food consumed in Ireland and Britain. According to Professor Reilly, chief executive of the FSAI‘In Ireland it is not our culture to eat horse meat and therefore, we do not expect to find it in a burger’. Silvercrest, a subsidiary of ABP Foods has assured that there is no risk to the public upon eating the foreign meat. However, many of the issues raised surrounding this incident do not stem from an aversion to horse meat or safety concerns.
Religious groups such as the Muslim or Jewish cannot consume certain types of meat, particularly pig. Professor Reilly states ‘for some religious groups or people who abstain from eating pig meat, the presence of traces of pig DNA is unacceptable’. The question of the reliability of Irish food traceability has also been called into question. In Britain the incident has been a catalyst for the discussion of the validity of a self-regulated meat industry. Karen Jenning, UNISON’s assistant general secretary declares that ‘the industry isn’t fit to regulate itself’ Tesco dropped €360million in market value by Wednesday 16th January