Findus Lasagna 60% to 100% Horsemeat, Find Prompts Call For Processed Beef Advice

“What a surprise…NOT…I wondered when other foods would start to show traces of horse meat; but to have some that are 100% horse meat is criminal. If I wasn’t already vegetarian, I think I would be after this…

People need to be told officially whether they should eat any processed beef foods in the wake of the discovery of horsemeat in Findus lasagne, the shadow environment secretary has said.

Shadow environment secretary Mary Creagh: “It’s not fair… that consumers are being kept in the dark”

Labour’s Mary Creagh accused ministers of “pretending this isn’t happening”.

The government said it was working with businesses to enforce regulations.

The Food Standards Agency has ordered UK retailers to test all processed beef products. Findus has withdrawn its lasagne from sale.

It is the latest company to be caught up in the controversy surrounding contamination of meat products, which has affected companies in the UK, Irish Republic, Poland and France.

Last month, Irish food inspectors announced they had found horsemeat in some burgers stocked by a number of UK supermarket chains, including Tesco, Iceland and Lidl.

Findus Beef Lasagne Meals 100% Horsemeat

Published on 8 Feb 2013

Findus not 100% sure whats in there meals

‘Criminality or negligence’

Ms Creagh expressed fears that there were further revelations to come from the food industry.

“What we have had over the last four weeks is a constant drip, drip, drip of revelations from the food industry, from the Food Standards Agency, and what I am worried about is that the more they are testing for horse, the more they are finding,” she said.

She suggested official guidance was needed on whether people should eat other processed foods labelled as containing beef.

“I certainly wouldn’t, but I’m waiting for the government, the experts, the scientists, to tell us and issue proper clear advice for consumers,” she said.

“It’s simply not good enough for ministers to sit at their desks and pretend this isn’t happening.”

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson called the Findus discovery “completely unacceptable” and said the presence of unauthorised ingredients in foods “cannot be tolerated”.

Mr Paterson said the government was working closely with businesses to “root out any illegal activity” and enforce regulations.

“Consumers can be confident that we will take whatever action we consider necessary if we discover evidence of criminality or negligence,” he said.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said it was “highly likely” criminal activity was to blame for the contamination.

Chief executive Catherine Brown told the BBC: “I have to say that the two cases of gross contamination that we see here indicates that it is highly likely there has been criminal and fraudulent activity involved.

“We are demanding that food businesses conduct authenticity tests on all beef products, such as beef burgers, meatballs and lasagne, and provide the results to the FSA. The tests will be for the presence of significant levels of horsemeat.”

The agency has asked for test results by next Friday.

Police in the UK and Europe were involved in the investigations into the contaminated products, the FSA said.

It added: “People have been asking whether it is safe to eat any frozen meat products at the moment.

“There is no reason to suspect that there’s any health issue with frozen food in general, and we wouldn’t advise people to stop eating it.”

Beef Lasagne Meals 100% Horsemeat

Published on 7 Feb 2013

Findus Beef Lasagne Meals 100% Horsemeat
Shoppers who have bought the ready meals have been advised not to eat them and to return them to the shops.
9:51pm UK, Thursday 07 February 2013
Findus.

Apology

The FSA said there was no evidence of a health risk from the contaminated lasagne, but has also ordered Findus to test the products for the veterinary drug phenylbutazone, or “bute”.

“Animals treated with phenylbutazone are not allowed to enter the food chain as [the drug] may pose a risk to human health,” it said.

Findus

We understand this is a very sensitive subject for consumers”

Findus’s affected products were made by a third-party French supplier, Comigel, which had alerted the company to concerns that the beef lasagne product did not “conform to specification”.

The FSA said Findus had tested 18 of its beef lasagne products and found 11 meals containing between 60% and 100% horsemeat.

Findus had withdrawn its beef lasagne in 320g, 360g and 500g sizes as a precaution on Monday.

The company said: “We understand this is a very sensitive subject for consumers and we would like to reassure you we have reacted immediately. We do not believe this to be a food safety issue.

“We are confident that we have fully resolved this supply chain issue. We would like to take this opportunity to apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused.”

It said all its other products had been tested and were not affected.

A statement from the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) said it “deplores the latest reported incidents of gross contamination of some processed meat products“.

“The BMPA has urged its members to be vigilant, and to review their raw material and ingredients-sourcing procedures in order to ensure that they meet their responsibilities to produce safe food and to describe and label their products accurately.”

Supermarket chains Tesco and Aldi have also withdrawn some beef products

Earlier this week, Comigel had advised Findus and Aldi to withdraw Findus Beef Lasagne and Aldi’s Today’s Special Frozen Beef Lasagne and Today’s Special Frozen Spaghetti Bolognese.

An Aldi spokesman said its products had been withdrawn immediately and the retailer was carrying out its own investigations.

“The products will remain withdrawn from sale until we are confident that the meat content complies with the specification presented to us,” he said, adding that customers could claim refunds by returning packaged products.

Tesco also decided to withdraw Everyday Value Spaghetti Bolognese.

The Tesco product was produced at the same Comigel site but there was no evidence of contamination, the supermarket said.

• ‘I didn’t see or handle horsemeat’
• Supermarkets withdraw beef products
• Q&A: Meat contamination

News Link:-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21377601

VERY GRAPHIC IMAGES,VIDEO:Exposed: How terrified horses were beaten and abused by sick slaughtermen

“As a horse owner I don’t think I have to say much; this is very distressing for me to post! However, people need to know, believe me, I’m writing this through tears…but the public have to know what happens in these horrific kill places. I have said before & will say again, if captive bolt guns are used, they are inadequate at making equine’s unconscious  The bolt gun was meant for & is used for bovine’s…a horses skull & brain is set further back; therefore the bolt gun does not have the same effect it does on bovine’s..which means the horse regains consciousness very quickly.!”

“It is also not just the old, sick retired that end up at these evil places…kill buyers look for horses that are healthy & have a good weight on them, those are the horses they get most money per pound for! In all my years of owning horses I have never once sent or let any of my horses go to an auction house; because that is where kill buyers lurk. Being disabled from a riding accident obviously means I can’t ride, & lately not even see my horses, due to pain (they are well cared for & spoilt at a livery yard). But hell will freeze over before I let them go to auction…if you truly love your horse or any animal, you don’t let them go to places like this! When the time comes that my horse has to go, I will move mountains & get there somehow! My face will be the last thing she see’s, my voice the last thing she hears; before crossing Rainbow Bridge!”

One horrific image shows a distressed horse come round from being stunned only to find itself hanged upside down ready to be bled

horse wakes up after being stunned

Two slaughtermen have been sacked after shocking footage exposed horses being abused at an abattoir.

The video nasty caught by hidden cameras shows the animals being beaten with a metal rod and crammed into pens together before being slaughtered.

One horrific image shows a distressed horse appearing to come round from being stunned only to find itself hanged upside down ready to be bled.

Ex-Chief Veterinary Officer Keith Meldrum described it as “completely unacceptable.”

The cruelty was filmed at Red Lion Abattoir, near Nantwich, Cheshire, during a Sky News investigation prompted by concerns raised by animal welfare campaign group Hillside.

Some horses were crammed into slaughter pens in pairs and at one point in a group of three before being stunned together.

Experts said this was against the law.

Hanging on: Horse tries to wriggle free

Under The Welfare of Animals Act 1995, horses cannot be slaughtered in sight of any other horse because it causes them severe distress.

Separately, some injured or sick horses appeared to be left by staff to suffer overnight, rather than being put down immediately.

Last night the Food Standards Agency said it revoked the licences of two slaughtermen after a probe into the video.

FSA head of approvals Craig Kirby said: “As soon as we got the footage and reviewed it we took immediate action to revoke the slaughtermen’s licences.

“That means they cannot work to slaughter animals again. “We will also look to gather further evidence to see if we can prosecute.”

Mr Meldrum yesterday described his shock at what he described as “appalling” animal welfare breaches. He said: “We see three animals stunned at the same time and it is totally illegal and contrary to welfare slaughter regulations.

It’s a significant welfare problem for a number of reasons. It’s harder to render them unconscious in a group and they have a higher chance of regaining consciousness before you’ve completed the procedure.”

The number of horses being slaughtered in the UK has more than doubled in the past five years. FSA figures show 8,426 were put down in 2012, compared to 3,859 in 2007. Horses are sent to the abattoir when they are old, sick, injured or retired.

The shocking footage, to be shown on Sky News today, comes just days after it emerged horse meat had been found in beefburgers being sold across the UK.

Roly Owers, head of World Horse Welfare, said: “The breaches, from what we’ve seen, are throughout – from the care of the animals to the slaughter process.

“Horses are intelligent animals. When they see an animal stunned in front of them, you can only imagine the distress that animal is going through. “There are, without doubt, welfare issues here. It is plain illegal.”

John Watson, of Hillside, said: “It blows away the myth of humane slaughter. There is a misery in that place that is palpable.”

In response, a Red Lion spokesman said: “The incidents, whilst captured on limited filming are not the norm but that of an isolated nature.

“The management view animal welfare and public health with paramount importance.

“Decisive disciplinary action has been taken.”

News Link:-http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/terrified-horses-beaten-and-killed-by-sick-1544633

Footage shows stunned horse waking up just before it is about to have its throat cut

Published on 19 Jan 2013

Horse Abattoir Film Reveals Cruelty & Animal Welfare Breaches in UK – 19 January 2013

Slaughtermen have their licence revoked after campaigners’ secret film exposes breaches of the Animal Welfare Act

Sky News has uncovered shocking animal welfare conditions at a UK horse abattoir.

They include animals being beaten, neglected and illegal procedures in the process of slaughtering British horses destined for European food markets.

It comes amid public anger that some of our biggest supermarkets have been selling beef burgers and other products that contained horse meat

Red Lion Abattoir near Nantwich in Cheshire

Horse meat could have been used in beefburgers for years and was detected in chorizo a decade ago

• The Food Standards Agency does not test products for horse meat because it does not pose a risk to public health
• But the FSA found equine DNA in three out of 24 chorizo and pastrami products sold in 2003  
• Scientists demand regular tests for meat products in supermarkets
• Sainsbury’s, Asda and Co-op have removed burgers as a precaution
• Fast food chain Burger King also drawn into the row
• Tesco has paid for full page apology in national newspapers today
• Government tells Commons there could be prosecutions over issue
• Food charity angry that 10million contaminated burgers will be binned, saying they should be handed for free instead

Horse meat could have been in beefburgers for many years because of gaping holes in British food regulations, it emerged today.

The Food Standards Agency is under fire after it admitted testing is not routinely carried out because products laced with horse do not pose a risk to public health.

This is despite FSA scientists finding equine DNA in products sold in three out of 24 chorizo and pastrami products imported from Belgium and Italy and sold in Safeway in 2003.

There are now demands for products to be routinely analysed to ensure UK consumers know exactly what they are eating.

Tim Lang, a professor of food policy at City University in London said: ‘It could have been going on for years but we wouldn’t know about it because we have never conducted tests.

‘For too long we have had light-touch regulation. The Food Standards Agency has to be institutionalised into.

Government Food Minister David Heath said today he backed the FSA’s regime.

‘The FSA carries out its duties in a responsible and professional way. They do take a risk-based approach to testing based on intelligence and I think they are right to do so because that is the way they get the most effective response,’ he told the Commons.

Two studies carried out in 2003 found evidence of imported processed meat containing traces of horse meat.

The first by local authorities in Hull, Durham, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire found three out of 24 salamis contained horse meat. These gourmet products were imported from France and Belgium. Two products were found on sale at a branch of Safeway in Durham, and the other at a Leeds wholesaler.

A second larger research project by the Food Standards Agency found imported chorizo contained traces of horse meat.

Ten million beefburgers are being recalled in the scandal over horse meat contamination as more supermarkets and fast food chain Burger King were drawn into the row.

ABP, which is awaiting results of secondary testing ordered by the Department of Agriculture in Ireland due this evening, said it wants the food binned.

‘We have recommended that the withdrawn product is destroyed,’ the company said.

‘We do not have monetary figures for the product we have recommended be withdrawn, but can confirm it would total around 10 million burgers.’

The FSA has admitted that it is considering taking legal action against companies at the centre of the scandal.

The firms acted because the products were made by an Irish food giant which is known to have been supplying burgers contaminated with horse meat, with some at Tesco containing up to 29 per cent equine DNA.

Tesco has today placed full-page adverts in a number of national newspapers apologising to customers for selling beef burgers containing horse meat.

The supermarket giant has lost £300million off its market value in the last day.

Sorry: Tesco has taken out full page adverts in national newspapers apologising for the ‘unacceptable’ horse meat scandal that has rocked the company

 It has also promised to refund customers who bought the contaminated products, identified as Tesco Everyday Value 8 x Frozen Beef Burgers (397g), Tesco 4 x Frozen Beef Quarter Pounders (454g), and a branded product, Flamehouse Frozen Chargrilled Quarter Pounders.

The alert was first raised by Irish food watchdogs earlier this week after horse DNA was found in burgers sold through Tesco, Iceland, Aldi, Lidl and Dunnes in Ireland.

It subsequently emerged that burgers from the same batches were sold in the British outlets of both Tesco and Iceland. The beef content in one Everyday Value burger sold by Tesco was actually 29 per cent horse meat.
The tests were carried out in November but the results were not released until they had been checked by experts in Germany. It is likely that many thousands of the burgers contaminated with horse meat have been eaten by families.Investigations are focussing on the role of Irish food company, ABP, which is run by controversial entrepreneur Larry Goodman.ABP owns Silvercrest Foods, which supplied burgers containing horse meat to Tesco and Aldi. It also makes cheap burgers for Asda, Co-op and Burger King.

ABP also owns Dalepak, which is based in North Yorkshire and made suspect burgers for Iceland. It also produces 13 lines for Sainsbury’s.

Yesterday, ABP pointed the finger at a mystery ingredient used in the burgers – thought to be a protein powder – supplied by two foreign firms, one in the Netherlands and another in Spain.

The powder – used to bulk up cheap burgers – is supposed to be created from rendered down carcasses of beef animals.

The episode lifts the lid on some of the more distasteful elements and ingredients used to produce cheap food for families on a budget. 

Professor Chris Elliott, director of the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University, Belfast said: ‘What goes into a burger is all the low quality cuts of meat that can’t be sold in any other form. They are at the bottom of the chain.’

The FSA will look at launching legal action with breaches of food labelling rules bringing fines up to £20,000 and a prison term of up to two years.

HORSE MEAT BURGER FIND COULD SPARK PROSECUTIONS

Criminal prosecutions could be brought following the discovery of horse meat in some supermarket beefburgers, the Government said today.

Environment minister David Heath (above right) said standards were generally very high in the British food industry and backed the Food Standards Agency’s risk-based checking system.

Answering an urgent question from Labour’s shadow environment secretary Mary Creagh in the Commons, Mr Heath acknowledged the seriousness of the discovery.

He said: ‘It is very important neither you, nor anyone else in this House, talks down the British food industry at a time when the standards in that industry are of a very high level.

‘Because something has been discovered in Ireland, which is serious, which may lead to criminal proceedings, does not undermine the very serious efforts which are taken by retailers, by processors and by producers in this country to ensure traceability and ensure standards of food that are available to consumers.’

Raising her urgent question, Ms Creagh said: ‘Consumers who avoid pork for religious reasons will be upset they may have unwittingly eaten it and eating horse is strongly culturally taboo in the United Kingdom.

‘It’s not illegal to sell horse meat but it is illegal not to label it correctly.

‘The food industry lobbies vigorously for a light-touch regulation system from Government. Testing, tracking and tracing ingredients is expensive but not testing will cost retailers, processors, British farmers and consumers much more.’

Same supplier: Fast food giant Burger King was drawn into the row today as it uses the same supplier as supermarkets where burgers were found to contain horse meat

 Tesco had no idea about the contamination and has apologised. Its group technical director, Tim Smith, said: ‘Our customers have the right to expect that food they buy is produced to the highest standards.’

Asda, Sainsbury’s and the Co-op all insisted there was no evidence their burgers contain horse meat. However, they decided to withdraw them because they come from firms  which are known to have had this problem

Sainsbury’s said: ‘Although our products have not been implicated, as our customers would expect we treat matters like this extremely seriously.’ Asda said: ‘As soon as we were made aware of the issue we launched a full traceability audit with our supplier.’

Co-op said it was removing two lines of frozen own-brand burgers while tests are carried out ‘to ensure they have been produced to our strict specifications’.

Burger King said it has been given ‘absolute assurance’ by ABP and Silvercrest that none of its burgers were affected. It said its burgers are produced with clean ingredients on a separate production line.

DESTRUCTION OF 10M BURGERS IS WRONG – FOOD CHARITY

The destruction of up to 10 million burgers suspected of containing some levels of horse DNA is morally and ethically wrong, a charity has said.

The UK’s Food Ethics Council said any meat fit for human consumption could be offered to consumers for free.

Dan Crossley, chief executive of the charity, said: ‘It’s wrong to assume straight away that food that is apparently fit for human consumption should go to landfill – if it can be shown to be safe to eat.

‘From a moral and ethical perspective, the amount of food we throw away is nothing short of scandalous, particularly in a world where a billion people are going hungry.

‘We must learn to value the food we eat.’

One of Europe’s biggest suppliers and processors, the ABP Food Group, is among two firms being investigated by health and agriculture authorities in the UK and Ireland over the controversy.

The company said it has recommended destroying up to 10 million frozen burgers which have been withdrawn from shops.

‘Some people will have reservations about eating that meat as there’s the potential to have horse meat in it,’ Mr Crossley said.

‘If the decision was made that it could not be sold through normal channels, they could look at other options like giving it free to people if they wanted it.‘

To read the rest of this news post click here:– http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2263822/Horse-meat-used-beefburgers-years-detected-chorizo-years-ago.html

The ‘cruel’ goat farm where activists claim animals have the tips of their horns burned off with a metal tool to save money as demand for milk and cheese grows

With a healthy, organic image, cheese and milk from British goat farms have become popular items on our shopping lists.

Now scenes we might imagine of free-range herds grazing on lush fields have been rocked by claims of animal cruelty.

Undercover filming at two of the largest goat farms by animal campaigners Viva, shows images of kid goats having the tips or buds of their horns burned off with a metal tool. The painful procedure stops horns growing, so avoiding injury during clashes in adulthood.

But animal welfare rules state this should be done by vets under anaesthetic.

One of the farms, Upper Enson Farm at Sandon, Staffordshire, which has around 2,000 goats, does not take these safeguards. The farmer said he did not have the cash to use vets because the goat industry was ‘on its knees’.

The farm supplies a dairy which sells products in major supermarkets including Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Co-op.

Footage from the farm also showed the carcasses of dead nanny and kid goats. The farmer later admitted the farm had suffered an outbreak of cryptosporidiosis, which can kill younger goats.

Viva warns that cramped conditions can encourage diseases to spread.

Filming at another business, Bromes Farm, near Taunton in Somerset, which supplies Tesco among other retailers, revealed some conditions in which the animals are not free to go out into the fields.

Ranks of goats were also shown connected to milking machines at the farm. Viva condemns industrial-style milking parlours, which can cause the goats to suffer from sore udders because of the high quantities of milk produced.

Bromes Farm did not respond to requests for comment.

Viva said the raising of goats increasingly involved factory farming techniques. Director Juliet Gellatley said: ‘Ethically minded consumers who have been shocked by increasingly intensive methods of production in the dairy cow industry have been switching to goats’ milk under the mistaken belief that it is more humane.’

Nick Brandon, owner of Upper Enson Farm, admitted he was operating outside the rules on removing or disbudding horns. He said: ‘The disbudding is not quite as it should be and we are consulting with our vet to decide how to move forward.’

Asked why he has not used a vet, he said: ‘It is not economical for the number of goats we have got.

‘The industry is on its knees. Goats’ milk and cheese is becoming more popular, but the price people pay in the shops is not filtering back to farmers.’

He added: ‘Our milking goats and older youngstock graze outside for eight to nine months of the year and have access to their shed in rain.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2160065/The-cruel-goat-farms-Activists-claim-animals-mistreated-demand-milk-cheese-grows.html#ixzz1xyG206QG

 

Published on 15 Jun 2012 by vivaorg

Think today’s dairy goat farming is benign and mostly small-scale? Think again. Watch our film to find out more.

Through a series of ground-breaking undercover investigations Viva! has shone a light on the rapidly expanding goat’s dairy industry in the UK — including farms that supply the UK’s biggest supermarkets.

Behind the pastoral image often portrayed our exposé has found potentially illegal and other routine mutilation of baby animals, disease outbreaks, piles of dead carcasses, intensified zero-grazing farming practices and Billy goats increasingly sold for the ethnic food market. It is this intensification that has allowed the industry to surpass the production of 2 million litres a year in Britain for the first time.

In May 2012, we filmed undercover at Upper Enson Farm (Britain’s largest grazing goat herd) in Staffordshire, who milk around 1,800 goats for Delamere Dairies — who supply M&S, Waitrose, The Co-op, Sainsbury’s and a number of other major UK retailers. In September/October 2011, we also filmed at Bromes Farm in Somerset, which farms around 1,200 zero-grazed goats and supplies Tesco.

For more information and free advice on how to go dairy-free, visithttp://www.milkmyths.org.uk/goats