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The 2013 meat adulteration scandal is an ongoing food scandal in Europe. Foods sold as containing beef have been found to contain undeclared horse meat, as much as 100% of the meat content, and other undeclared meats, such as pork. The issue came to light on 15 January 2013, when it was reported that horse DNA had been discovered in frozen beefburgers sold at several Irish and British supermarkets.

Irish investigation

Investigations by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) resulted in Ireland being the first EU state to report the presence of horse meat in beef and make public the results. The first positive test for equine DNA was on 10 December 2012. It carried out additional tests on 18 and 21 December. The FSAI then sent samples to the Eurofins laboratory in Germany. It had been claimed that the initial investigation had been started due to a tip off from a whistle-blower from within the meat industry, but that has been denied by the FSAI. Professor Alan Reilly of the FSAI testified to Oireachtas on 5 February 2013 that the results indicated the presence of equine DNA, but not the amount. The Identigen Laboratory and the Eurofins Laboratory were asked to determine the amount of horsemeat in the samples. Additionally, on 21 December the FSAI requested that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in Ireland to obtain further samples. These were sent to the Identigen laboratory on 4 January 2013. Results were received back from Eurofins and Identigen on 11 January 2013. Professor Reilly reported on 5 February that 'quantitative results from Identigen were received by the FSAI late on the evening of 11 January 2013. Of the 10 burger products that tested positive for equine DNA, all but one was at low levels. The quantification of the equine DNA in this one burger product gave an estimated amount of 29% equine DNA relative to the beef DNA content of the burger product. This product was manufactured by Silvercrest on behalf of Tesco. At this point, there was no explanation for the finding of 29% equine DNA relative to beef DNA in this single sample.' On 14 January 2013 the FSAI informed the Department of Health and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine of the final results. On the same day it also informed the Food Standards Agency in the United Kingdom.

The next day, 15 January 2013, the FSAI advised the five retailers concerned, Tesco, Dunnes Stores, Aldi, Lidl and Iceland, of their findings; all these firms withdrew the offending products. The media and newspapers of the 16 January 2013 led with the story, focusing on the one burger which tested positive for 29% equine DNA. There was initial criticism of the FSAI due to its delay in making public its initial test results, and also its delay in revealing the country from which the offending horse product was imported. It justified its delay on the grounds that it could not make serious allegations against firms or other EU countries until it was absolutely certain. As the crisis expanded to include many more EU countries, the role of the FSAI has received praise.

Test results

Of 27 beef products tested, 37% were positive for horse DNA, and 85% were positive for pig DNA. Of 31 beef 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's inexpensive Everyday Value Beef Burgers tested at 29.1%. All other reported brands had less than 0.3% horse DNA. These products originated from Liffey Meats and Silvercrest Foods in Ireland and Dalepak Hambleton food processing plant in the United Kingdom. Trace amounts of horse DNA were also found in raw ingredients imported from Spain and the Netherlands.

Laboratory DNA investigations were requested by the authorities into possible donkey meat adulteration of minced meat products labelled as 100% beef.

Companies

ABP Food Group

By the 16 February 2013 four subsidiaries of ABP had been accused of supplying adulterated meat. They were Silvercrest in County Monaghan, Dalepak in North Yorkshire, Freshlink in Glasgow and ABP Nenagh in County Tipperary, Ireland.

Hamburger meat from Silvercrest Foods, a subsidiary of Larry Goodman’s ABP Food Group, in County Monaghan, Ireland, was found to contain 29% horse meat relative to beef. Porcine DNA was also found. Tesco dropped Silvercrest as a supplier of processed meat, but ABP said that it "welcomed their decision to continue sourcing fresh beef from other ABP companies". On the 15/02/2013 Tesco said-"We will no longer work with the suppliers who fell below our very high standards." It did not go on to say if it meant ABP Food Group or just the subsidiary's that had supplied it with contaminated food.

The first instance of fresh beef being adulterated with horse meat was confirmed by Asda, which removed its 500-gram own-label beef Bolognese sauce from sale. The sauce was supplied by a company called Greencore, which said in a statement that the meat in the sauce had been supplied by ABP Food Group's Nenagh plant in County Tipperary, Ireland.

Burger King, which has more than 500 fast food outlets in Ireland and the UK, dropped Silvercrest as a supplier, using suppliers in Germany and Italy instead. Burger King confirmed on the 31 January 2013 that tests showed that its beef burgers did contain horse meat.

Waitrose removed beef meatballs from sale when it found that they contained pork. The meatballs were manufactured by an ABP factory in Glasgow. Waitrose, part of John Lewis, said it would be creating a new facility to supply its own beef products.

Tesco, the Co-operative Group and Aldi also cancelled contracts with ABP Food Group because of the adulteration.

Food wholesaler Makro, supplier to the restaurant and pub industry, admitted that some of its frozen burgers supplied by Silvercrest tested positive for horse DNA. A spokesman said that Makro no longer sold the product in question.

Spanghero

On 14 February 2013, the French government stated that French meat processing company À la Table de Spanghero, commonly known as Spanghero, knowingly sold horsemeat labelled as beef, and that their license was suspended while an inquiry continues. Spanghero imported meat from Romania and sold it on to another French company, Comigel, which made frozen ready meals at its factory in Luxembourg. French Consumer Affairs Minister Benoît Hamon said the meat had left Romania clearly and correctly labelled as horse and that it was afterwards that it was relabelled as beef by Spanghero. The investigation also said some blame may rest with Comigel, claiming the staff there should have noticed anomalies in the paperwork, and realized from the smell and look of the meat once it was defrosted that it was not beef.

Comigel

On 7 February 2013, Findus announced that in a sample of 18 beef lasagne products that it tested, which are distributed in both Great Britain and Sweden, 11 contained between 60% and 100% horse meat. It was also revealed that some of the products sold had minced meat declared as beef that actually was 60–100% horsemeat. The source of the horse meat was third party supplier Comigel, a French-headquartered frozen ready meal producer, from its subsidiary Tavola factory in Capellen, Luxembourg. According to the FSA the company had been alerted by a third-party French supplier on 4 February 2013, and tested its beef lasagne products finding over 50% of the tested products contained horsemeat. According to reports both Findus UK and the French supplier withdrew all products related to the third party supplier. The reason for the adulteration was initially stated as "highly likely" criminal activity.

The president of Comigel, Erick Lehagre, told Agence France-Presse that the adulterated meat supplier was Spanghero, a firm owned by Lur Berri and founded in 1970 by Claude and Laurent Spanghero, two former France international rugby players. He said that Spanghero had told him that the meat was not from France, but came from a producer in Romania. On 11 February 2013 France's Consumer Affairs Minister Benoit Hamon warned it "will not hesitate" to take legal action if there is evidence companies had knowingly duped consumers. Mr Hamon said an initial investigation by French safety authorities had found a French company Poujol (Spanghero's holding company) bought frozen meat from a Cypriot trader. That trader had bought it from a Dutch food supplier, who in turn bought it from two Romanian slaughterhouses. Poujol then supplied a factory in Luxembourg, owned by Comigel, which then supplied Findus and the British supermarkets. The French authorities are concerned about protecting the French agricultural industry and the effect this scandal would have. The Romanian government has stated that there are no contracts between the Romanian abattoirs and any French, Cypriot or Dutch meat processors.

On 8 February 2013, Findus announced that it would no longer accept meat from Comigel, and stopped further deliveries of the product in question. On the same day, Findus UK published a public apology on its website, also announcing that, following DNA testing, three of its products were found to contain horse tissue. These are the 320, 350 and 500 gram packages of Findus Beef Lasagne, with the company offering a refund for products purchased. Findus Sverige AB also announced a recall of its 375 gram packs of ready-made single-portion lasagne (code 63957), and published a contact number for customers who had already purchased the products. On 8 February 2013 supermarket chain Aldi announced that it would withdraw from sale Today's Special Frozen Beef Lasagne and Today's Special Frozen Spaghetti Bolognese, supplied by Comigel, after tests found the meat content to be between 30 and 100% horse.

Source of meat

The horse meat that was found in Comigel products originated in a Romanian abattoir. However, an inquiry undertaken by the French government has shown that "the meat had left Romania clearly and correctly labelled as horse. It was afterwards that it was relabelled as beef." The Romanian abattoir delivered the meat to a trader in the Netherlands subcontracted by a Cypriot trader. The Dutch trader then sold the frozen meat to Spanghero, who then sent it to Comigel, where the end products for sale were made. According to French media reports, Spanghero falsified documents regarding the meat, which may have come from old and sick horses and was deemed unfit for human consumption.

Horse meat found in Silvercrest products is thought to have originated in Poland.

Health implications

Scientists initially raised concerns over the potential contamination of beef products with the veterinary drug phenylbutazone, commonly known as bute, which is used as an analgesic in horses. Phenylbutazone is used therapeutically in humans as a treatment for ankylosing spondylitis when other treatments are not suitable. Horses which have been treated with bute are prohibited from entering the human food chain. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) responded to these concerns, which were also raised by politicians such as Labour party MP Mary Creagh, stating that there had been only five cases of slaughtered horses which had been treated with bute, none of which had entered the human food chain. Also, the small amount of phenylbutazone present due to use of horsemeat was stated by England's chief medical officer to present a very low risk to health; around 500-600 burgers containing 100% horse meat would need to be eaten to receive the daily human therapeutic dose of phenylbutazone. However, the effect on the human immune system of low level exposure over an extended period of time is currently unknown. High incidences of focal necrosis were found in female rats fed low doses of 1,2-diphenylhydrazine over time. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) residues risk causing rare but potentially fatal side-effects in humans. There is inadequate evidence of carcinogenicity of phenylbutazone; it is not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans.

There is also speculation that some horsemeat from the United States, where phenylbutazone is commonly used, may have entered the food chain via Mexico and then exported to Europe. One reason for this is that Spanghero had purchased meat from a company, Draap, whose owner, Jan Fasen was previously convicted for fraud; as far back as 2007, Draap had labeled horsemeat imported from Mexico and South America as Dutch or German beef. The primary concern is horsemeat from the United States; up to 15% of horses sent to slaughter in Canada or Mexico are retired or damaged racehorses—due to the veterinary and illegal drugs given to them during their racing career, levels that led a research veterinarian to call them "walking pharmacies," these animals may have meat too toxic to eat safely. In the US drugs approved for use in horses carry the warning "Do not use in horses intended for human consumption."

Some experts and UK government officials have raised concerns that horse meat from Romania could be contaminated with EIA and that a "French plant which handled horse meat sold in Britain as beef has previously been at the centre of a major E.coli discovery". Although EIA does not pose a risk to humans, it could be an indicator of additional health problems in horses that may stem from poor living conditions.

EIA is a lentivirus, like HIV, and research into a vaccine for EIA has the potential to help research efforts into a vaccine for HIV/AIDS. This has led some news outlets to refer to EIA as "Horse AIDS", though it is not an immunodeficiency syndrome, nor can it be transmitted to humans.

Implications for religious groups

Religious groups such as observant Muslims and Jews do not consume certain types of meat, particularly pork. Professor Reilly stated "for some religious groups or people who abstain from eating pig meat, the presence of traces of pig DNA is unacceptable".

Reactions

Horse meat is not normally eaten 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 claimed 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.

In Britain, the incident has been a catalyst for the discussion of the validity of a self-regulated meat industry. Karen Jennings, UNISON's assistant general secretary, said that "the industry isn't fit to regulate itself". Tesco dropped 360 million EUR in market value by Wednesday 16 January 2013.

The British government was warned in April 2011 that illegal horse meat was entering the human food chain.

European Union officials

European Union officials, European ministers and Commissioner (Tonio) Borg set up an urgent meeting in Brussels on 13 February 2013 on how to contain the horse meat scandal that has exposed flaws in European control systems on food safety, and to formulate an action plan. Following the meeting, EU agriculture ministers announced a three-month programme of DNA testing of processed meat across the European Union. The plan calls for 2,500 random tests on processed food for horse DNA and 4,000 for phenylbutazone (bute), beginning in March 2013, with initial results announced on 15 April 2013. It is unclear why the testing could not start immediately as most of the evidence is still present. The scale of DNA tests in April and May will be decided later. The Hague-based Europol will handle coordination of the investigations among national authorities and any raids on premises as well as arrests "on suspicion" of criminal conspiracy to defraud.

Factories

Table of factories that produced adulterated foods
Parent company	Factory name	Health mark (factory number)	Address	Location	% of sample contaminated
ABP Food Group
	Silvercrest Foods	IE 565 EC	Ballybay, Co Monaghan, Ireland	54°07′57″N 6°54′25″W / 54.1326°N 6.9070°W / 54.1326; -6.9070	29.1
	Dalepak Hambleton	UK HN012 EC	Leeming Bar Industrial Estate, Northallerton, North Yorkshire, England	54°18′17″N 1°33′59″W / 54.3046°N 1.5664°W / 54.3046; -1.5664	0.1
Liffey Meats	Liffey Meats	IE 325 EC	Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan, Ireland	53°51′10″N 7°12′23″W / 53.8527°N 7.2065°W / 53.8527; -7.2065	trace
Comigel	Tavola	—	Capellen, Luxembourg	49°38′52″N 5°59′08″E / 49.6479°N 5.9855°E / 49.6479; 5.9855	30–100

Timeline

Date	Event
2012 Summer	Adulteration may have started, according to a leaked document.
2012-11-30	FSAI receives results from the Identigen laboratory on samples bought on 7–9 November 2012, which were Salami products (19), beef meal products (31) and beef burger products (27). Where the quantitative test resulted in 23 (85%) beef burger products tested positive for porcine (pig) DNA and 10 (37%) beef burger products tested positive for equine (horse) DNA. The burgers came from 6 plants in Ireland and 3 plants in the UK. The products which tested positive for equine DNA came from 2 plants in Ireland and one in the UK.
2012-12-07	Irish authorities become aware of the adulteration in ABP Food Group burgers with 29% horse meat content.
2012-12-10	FSAI receives laboratory result from DNA sequencing confirms presence of equine (horse) and porcine (pig) DNA.
2012-12-18	FSAI receives laboratory confirmation on equine (horse) DNA from another round of purchased burger samples from 10 December from the same or similar product batches to the original samples that tested positive.
2012-12-19	FSAI receives result that the 10 burgers sampled on 7 to 9 November 2012, that tested positive for equine (horse) DNA were negative for the presence of phenylbutazone and other drugs.
2013-01-11	Samples that FSAI requested from Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on 21 December, of raw ingredients from the two implicated meat processing plants in Ireland. And analyzed by the Identigen laboratory on 4 January 2013 showed very low or trace levels of equine (horse) DNA in beef products from the Netherlands, Spain and Ireland. However, they were not linked as ingredients. FSAI receives Semi-quantitative results from the Eurofins laboratory (Germany) that corroborates the initial results from the Identigen laboratory. Quantitative results from Identigen lab indicates that only 1 of 10 burgers tests showed an estimated low 29% level of equine (horse) DNA. This product was manufactured by Silvercrest on behalf of Tesco.
2013-01-15	The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) announced that horse meat had been found in frozen beefburgers at several Irish and British supermarkets, including Tesco, Asda, Dunnes Stores, Lidl, Aldi and Iceland. The FSAI conducted tests on a selection of beef and salami products with "best before" dates between June 2012 and March 2014. FSAI advices the five retailers concerned (Tesco, Dunnes Stores, Aldi, Lidl and Iceland) of their findings. The implicated products are removed immediately.
2013-01-16	Tesco dropped 360 million EUR in market value.
2013-01-24	Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) withheld 24 test results from a German laboratory.
2013-01-29	Samples that FSAI requested that HSE formally take from burgers in a range of retail and catering premises. Were analysed in the Eurofins laboratory under the direction of the HSE’s public analyst. All tested negative except one which was a sample from Tesco that confirmed previous findings.
2013-02-04	Findus is alerted by a third party that the beef lasagne product did not "conform to specification"
2013-02-07	Revealed that Findus beef lasagne range in the UK, France and Sweden and the shepherd's pie and moussaka ranges in France contained horse meat without proper declaration. Out of 18 products 11 tested positive for horse meat.
2013-02-08	DGCCRF inspect Spanghero and was able to review the traceability of documents for the concerned batches on the past 4 months, which attests of the conformity of Spanghero's procedures.
2013-02-13	European ministers and Commissioner (Tonio) Borg meets urgently in Brussels.
2013-02-14	DGCCRF investigation results should be known, which will determine the fraud source. On 14 February the French government put the blame on the French company Spanghero but the company says it acted in good faith. The fraudulent sale shipped 750 ton of meat during 6 months.
2013-02-14	One 63-year-old man was arrested at Peter Boddy Licensed Slaughterhouse, in Todmorden, West Yorkshire and two men, aged 64 and 42, were held at Farmbox Meats Ltd, near Aberystwyth, Wales, following searches by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on 12 February 2013

(The Identigen- and Eurofin laboratories are both accredited to the European Standard EN ISO/IEC 17025:2005)

External links

breakingnews.ie - Horsemeat in burgers, picture gallery

References

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Food contamination incidents	Devon colic Swill milk scandal Esing Bakery incident 1858 Bradford sweets poisoning 1900 English beer poisoning Morinaga Milk arsenic poisoning incident Minamata disease 1959 Moroccan oil poisoning disaster [ar] 1971 Iraq poison grain disaster Toxic oil syndrome 1985 Austrian diethylene glycol wine scandal United Kingdom BSE outbreak Australian meat substitution scandal Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak 1996 Odwalla E. coli outbreak 2006 North American E. coli outbreaks ICA meat repackaging controversy 2008 Canada listeriosis outbreak 2008 Chinese milk scandal 2008 Irish pork crisis 2008 United States salmonellosis outbreak 2011 Germany E. coli outbreak 2011 United States listeriosis outbreak Bihar school meal poisoning 2013 horse meat scandal 2015 Mozambique funeral beer poisoning 2017 Brazil Operation Weak Meat 2017–2018 South African listeriosis outbreak 2018 Australian strawberry contamination 2024 United Kingdom Shigatoxigenic E. coli outbreak Kobayashi red yeast rice scandal Food safety incidents in China Food safety incidents in Taiwan Foodborne illness outbreaks death toll United States
Regulation, standards, watchdogs	Acceptable daily intake E number Food labeling regulations Food libel laws Food safety in Australia International Food Safety Network ISO 22000 Nutrition facts label Organic certification Quality Assurance International United Kingdom food information regulations
Institutions	Centre for Food Safety (Hong Kong) European Food Safety Authority Food and Drug Administration Food Information and Control Agency (Spain) Food Standards Agency (United Kingdom) Institute for Food Safety and Health International Food Safety Network Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (South Korea) Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition
Related topics	Curing (food preservation) Food and drink prohibitions Food marketing Food politics Food preservation Food quality Genetically modified food Conspiracy theories
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