Three meat samples test positive for traces of horse

Three samples of meat out of 1,228 tests have come back positive for traces of horse, food safety chiefs have revealed.

A second round of DNA examinations have been carried out on products from a range of suppliers, caterers, processors, manufacturers and retailers in Ireland.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) said both products which tested positive have already been taken off the supermarket and supplier shelves.

They were Tesco Simple Roast Meatloaf, with levels of 3.1 per cent and 5.2 per cent horse meat, and Oak Farm Cottage Pie with traces of 1-5 per cent of horse.

“All the positive results have been published previously and products have been withdrawn from the market,” the FSAI said.

Food businesses which submitted results for the second round of tests included ABP Ireland; Convenience Foods; Cow & Gate; Dawn Farm Foods; Dunnes Stores; Green Isle Foods; HJ Heinz; Keystone Manufacturing Ireland; Liffey Meats; Musgraves; Rangeland and Tesco.

The FSAI said 1,122 final beef products were tested with the three positive results coming back while 106 beef meat ingredient samples were tested and no positive results identified.