Horse meat found in beef burgers sold by Tesco
Source: Agencies |
January 17, 2013, Thursday
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Print Edition
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HORSE meat found in beef burgers sold by Tesco was condemned by the Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday and was likely to prove both embarrassing and costly for the firm.
"People in our country will have been very concerned to read this morning that when they thought they were buying beef burgers they were buying something that had horse meat in it," said Cameron in Parliament.
"This is a completely unacceptable state of affairs," he said, calling for an urgent investigation by Britain's Food Standards Agency.
The scandal comes just a week after Chief Executive Philip Clarke said Tesco was "back on form" in Britain after beating analysts' forecasts for Christmas sales. Tesco has hailed a successful relaunch of its meat ranges as a contributing factor to its strongest sales growth in three years.
Shares in Britain's biggest retailer fell as much as 1.7 percent yesterday, knocking 480 million pounds (US$772.33 million) off its market value, reacting to news late Tuesday that the Food Safety Authority of Ireland had found horse DNA in beef burger products sold by Tesco in the UK and Ireland.
The FSAI said beef burgers sold at Dunnes Stores, Lidl, Aldi and Iceland were also discovered to contain horse DNA. It said most of the affected burgers contained very low levels of horse DNA, but in one Tesco sample horse meat accounted for about 29 percent relative to the beef content.
Analysts said the news, emblazoned across the front pages of British and Irish newspapers yesterday was a public relations blow for Tesco.
"The news is likely to, at least temporarily, reduce consumers' trust in the quality of Tesco's products which is unhelpful at a time when Tesco is trying to rebuild customers' trust in the quality underpinning Tesco own label and Everyday Value products," said Espirito Santo Investment Bank analyst Caroline Gulliver.
The beef burger products which tested positive for horse DNA were produced by Liffey Meats and Silvercrest Foods in Ireland and Dalepak Hambleton in Britain.
Tesco immediately withdrew from sale all products from its supplier Silvercrest, saying it was working with authorities and the supplier to urgently understand how horse meat came to be in the product.
"The presence of illegal meat in our products is extremely serious," Tim Smith, Tesco's group technical director said. "We understand that many of our customers will be concerned by this news, and we apologize sincerely for any distress."
Food safety experts say horse meat poses no added health risks to consumers.
The FSAI said the issue raises concerns about the traceability of meat ingredients.
"In Ireland it is not our culture to eat horsemeat and therefore, we do not expect to find it in a burger," said FSAI Chief Executive Alan Reilly.
ABP Foods said the source of the contamination was a beef based product bought from two third party suppliers outside of Ireland.
"People in our country will have been very concerned to read this morning that when they thought they were buying beef burgers they were buying something that had horse meat in it," said Cameron in Parliament.
"This is a completely unacceptable state of affairs," he said, calling for an urgent investigation by Britain's Food Standards Agency.
The scandal comes just a week after Chief Executive Philip Clarke said Tesco was "back on form" in Britain after beating analysts' forecasts for Christmas sales. Tesco has hailed a successful relaunch of its meat ranges as a contributing factor to its strongest sales growth in three years.
Shares in Britain's biggest retailer fell as much as 1.7 percent yesterday, knocking 480 million pounds (US$772.33 million) off its market value, reacting to news late Tuesday that the Food Safety Authority of Ireland had found horse DNA in beef burger products sold by Tesco in the UK and Ireland.
The FSAI said beef burgers sold at Dunnes Stores, Lidl, Aldi and Iceland were also discovered to contain horse DNA. It said most of the affected burgers contained very low levels of horse DNA, but in one Tesco sample horse meat accounted for about 29 percent relative to the beef content.
Analysts said the news, emblazoned across the front pages of British and Irish newspapers yesterday was a public relations blow for Tesco.
"The news is likely to, at least temporarily, reduce consumers' trust in the quality of Tesco's products which is unhelpful at a time when Tesco is trying to rebuild customers' trust in the quality underpinning Tesco own label and Everyday Value products," said Espirito Santo Investment Bank analyst Caroline Gulliver.
The beef burger products which tested positive for horse DNA were produced by Liffey Meats and Silvercrest Foods in Ireland and Dalepak Hambleton in Britain.
Tesco immediately withdrew from sale all products from its supplier Silvercrest, saying it was working with authorities and the supplier to urgently understand how horse meat came to be in the product.
"The presence of illegal meat in our products is extremely serious," Tim Smith, Tesco's group technical director said. "We understand that many of our customers will be concerned by this news, and we apologize sincerely for any distress."
Food safety experts say horse meat poses no added health risks to consumers.
The FSAI said the issue raises concerns about the traceability of meat ingredients.
"In Ireland it is not our culture to eat horsemeat and therefore, we do not expect to find it in a burger," said FSAI Chief Executive Alan Reilly.
ABP Foods said the source of the contamination was a beef based product bought from two third party suppliers outside of Ireland.
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