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alp227

(32,025 posts)
Thu Feb 7, 2013, 04:25 PM Feb 2013

Findus beef lasagne withdrawn after tests show high level of horsemeat

Source: The Guardian

Findus has admitted that it withdrew all its beef lasagne ready meals from supermarkets because they had tested positive for high levels of horsemeat, as the food contamination scandal continues to spread.

Tesco and discount chain Aldi had cleared their shelves of frozen spaghetti bolognese and beef lasagne earlier in the week – pending their own tests – because they were made by Comigel, the French manufacturer that supplied Findus.

Findus began the withdrawal after being alerted to a problem by Comigel on Sunday, but they previously declined to say the problem related to undeclared horsemeat. The Guardian understands that in one sample tested, horsemeat accounted for over 90% of the meat content. A spokesman from Burson Marsteller, the damage limitation PR experts employed by Findus, said that the beef in the Findus beef lasagne had been found in tests to be on average 60% horsemeat, but added that beef only accounted for 15% of the product anyway.

Over 200m burgers have been withdrawn from sale in the month since the Food Safety Authority of Ireland found that cheap burgers supplied to supermarkets contained horsemeat. The Irish authorities have now called in the police to investigate criminal fraud in the supply chain to Ireland's largest beef processor ABP.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/07/findus-beef-lasagne-horse-meat

18 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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jollyreaper2112

(1,941 posts)
1. This looks like a job for the free market!
Thu Feb 7, 2013, 04:32 PM
Feb 2013

We don't need regulators to keep horsemeat out of our food! No nanny state for us, no sir! Just strip away all safety measures, sit back and watch businesses behave responsibly as they've been shown to do time and time again. Ron Paul 2016!

ashling

(25,771 posts)
4. Patty Labelle has a line of sauces, but they shouldn't contain beef,
Thu Feb 7, 2013, 05:06 PM
Feb 2013

but maybe you meant labeled instead of labelled?

(sorry, I just couldn't pass it up ... well, actually I could have, but ... )

yellowcanine

(35,699 posts)
3. I am not as concerned about the horse meat as what its presence might say about
Thu Feb 7, 2013, 04:56 PM
Feb 2013

quality control in general. And since horses aren't generally managed for consumption as meat, what kinds of horses end up in the slaughter house, in terms of how healthy the horse might be? It is one thing to grind up old cows (which may not be that old) into hamburgers, it is another thing to use old horses - which might be quite old and unhealthy.

 

kestrel91316

(51,666 posts)
6. If they'll sneak horsemeat in, there's no telling what OTHER meats they will try to
Thu Feb 7, 2013, 05:35 PM
Feb 2013

sneak in. I wouldn't put it past these asses to try sneaking dogs and cats in, and give them long enough and they'll try people.

Corporations care ONLY about profits.

 

naaman fletcher

(7,362 posts)
13. I had a nice horse steak outside Geneva last year.
Thu Feb 7, 2013, 07:38 PM
Feb 2013

Although as I understand it there are only a few good parts to the horse and the rest is considered to be quite tough.

d_r

(6,907 posts)
15. I'm left to believe
Thu Feb 7, 2013, 11:26 PM
Feb 2013

that the UK has completely forgotten about mad cow disease. This is the second scandal about horse meat - they don't seem to be doing a crack job with inspections.

the_chinuk

(332 posts)
16. Oh, for the days when Orson Welles could foul up a commerical for Findus …
Fri Feb 8, 2013, 12:21 AM
Feb 2013

… and the only problem he had was "In July".

Well, not the ONLY problem...



The Chinuk
writing from a remote farm in Lincolshire, where Mrs Buckley lives.

Bosonic

(3,746 posts)
17. Horsemeat lasagna recalled in Sweden
Fri Feb 8, 2013, 09:26 AM
Feb 2013

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Frozen-food company Findus is recalling beef lasagna meals in Sweden after tests confirmed the products contained horsemeat.

The move follows a similar recall earlier this week in Britain amid a widening scandal surrounding the use of horsemeat and the mislabeling of meat products in Europe.

Henrik Nyberg, product manager for Findus in the Nordics countries, said about 20,000 frozen lasagna meals are being recalled in Sweden.

Nyberg told The Associated Press that the products don't pose any food safety risk, and were recalled solely because they had been mislabeled.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/horsemeat-lasagna-recalled-sweden

Sunlei

(22,651 posts)
18. in the usa 50k horses are stolen a year and never seen again. The $50 at auction temps thieves.
Fri Feb 8, 2013, 10:30 AM
Feb 2013

Wonder if the UK is slips in those frozen shipping containers from mexico, change the label to beef.Must be temping to beef producers to add something really cheap to their beef mix, like they add those fillers and makes for huge profits for the company.

Once the DNA tests go past the type of meat and they start finding the steriods, the meds that cause aplastic-anemia and class one carcinogens in that 'meat' companies will get the shit sued out of them.

They will all pass the buck down to the suppliers, even the suppliers will pass the buck to the sourse. Is it china? mexico? who the heck knows what slaughterhouse crammed 'meat' into shipping containers and had a bargin price for 'beef'?

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