Third FSA update on testing of beef products for horse DNA

The FSA has received the third set of test results from the food industry, which has been checking for the presence of horse DNA in products that are labelled as beef.

Food industry testing

Overall, including the previous weeks’ testing, the Agency has received 5430 test results. This figure includes the 1797 results we are publishing today. The updated information from the food industry's own tests is as follows:

• As in previous weeks, the vast majority (over 99%) of tests continue to show no horse DNA at or above the level of 1%.
• Today’s results show that four further products have been confirmed as containing horse DNA, since the previous set of industry results was announced last week. These four products are covered by 10 test results that show horse DNA at or above the 1% threshold. These products are named in the attached report (see Table 2) and have been withdrawn from sale.
• There are now 17 products confirmed as containing over 1% of horse DNA, which have been identified through the industry tests (Table 2). A further two products have been identified through separate tests (Table 3).
• To date, no tests of products containing horse DNA have found the veterinary medicine phenylbutazone (bute). Detailed information, along with advice for consumers, can be found here: consumer advice.

The FSA focus continues to be on gross contamination of beef products with horse meat, that is, where there is more than 1% horse DNA detected in a product. The Agency believes that such levels of horse DNA indicate either gross negligence or deliberate substitution of one meat for another.
Results have now been received from a range of manufacturers, retailers, caterers, restaurants and wholesalers throughout the UK. The initial phase of testing by industry is almost complete.
There have been, and continue to be, occasions where businesses have withdrawn products due to trace contamination levels, or on a precautionary basis; for example, where they have been produced by manufacturers that have supplied other products found to be contaminated with horse DNA. Where further information relating to these withdrawals has been provided to the FSA, it has been included in the report.

Additional test results

These results show where horse DNA was detected above the 1% threshold by industry outside of the formal testing programme, or through other testing and investigations by the Agency and by local authorities. Details of these products are also available in the report attached below (see Table 3).

Future reporting arrangements

Most of the food industry’s initial tests for contamination of beef products with horse DNA are now complete. Industry will continue to test for the presence of horse DNA in its beef products, reporting to the FSA, and these tests will now be published at quarterly intervals.
However, food businesses will continue to report any confirmed cases of gross contamination, that is, above 1% horse DNA, to the FSA immediately. These figures will, in turn, be published on the FSA website as soon as the information is received.
Next week, the FSA will publish the first wave of data from the UK-wide sampling programme being carried out by local authorities on behalf of the Agency. This work is intended to verify information from the food industry and help improve the picture of the scale of beef contamination in the UK

Advice for consumers

The Agency is currently investigating how a number of beef products sold in the UK came to contain horse DNA. As part of the investigation, we have ordered food businesses to test their beef products. Whenever horse meat has been found at levels above 1%, we have insisted that it be tested for the drug phenylbutazone (bute). All results so far for bute have come back negative.

Throughout this incident we have continued to put consumer interests first. That means that we provide the name of the retailer, restaurant or catering supplier where contamination has been identified so that the public know if they've been affected and can take action if they still have an affected product.

While we also ask the named business to give us information on any suppliers and manufacturers they use, so that we can then trace back to where a problem occurred, we do not publish this information as it may hinder the enquiry and our ability to identify how the problem occurred.

Below is a list of products that have been found to contain horse meat above the 1% level. In all these cases the affected product has either never been put on sale or was withdrawn from sale once horse meat was detected. That means that the affected products are no longer on sale in a shop, or being served in a canteen or restaurant.

Some of the companies listed have advised us that they have since sourced meat from a new supplier, and that where these products are being sold now, they have been tested and do not contain horse meat.

If however, you still have one of these products bought previously in your freezer and are concerned about eating horse meat, you may wish to contact the shop where you bought it.

In the table below, we have also indicated the progress of testing for bute. Further information on bute can be found below the table. Our advice is not to eat a product if the bute testing is still in progress.

Products found to contain horse meat above 1%

The table will be updated as results come in.

Test results at 27 March 2013

Company	Products that tested positive for horse DNA	Bute test status	Bute test results
Aldi	Today's special frozen beef lasagne	Completed	Negative
	Today's special frozen spaghetti bolognese	Completed	Negative
Asda	Chilled Beef Bolognese Sauce	Completed	Negative
	Lean Beef Mince, 454g (frozen)	Completed	Negative
	Smart price Corned Beef 340g	In progress	Awaiting results
	Chosen by You corned beef 340g	In progress	Awaiting results
Bird's eye	Traditional Spaghetti Bolognese	Completed	Negative
	Beef lasagne	Completed	Negative
Brakes	Brakes spicy minced beef skewer	Completed	Negative
The Co-operative	Frozen: 4 Beef Quarter Pounder Burgers	Completed	Negative
Findus	Findus Beef Lasagne, 320g, 360g, 500g	Completed	Negative
Hungarian Food Ltd	Kockázott Marhaús, 1.010kg (frozen diced beef)	In progress	Awaiting results
IKEA	Frozen Swedish Food Market Meatballs	Completed	Negative
Makro	Frozen MQ 100% Aberdeen Angus Beef Burgers 12 6oz	Completed	Negative
Oak Farm Foods	Oak Farm Cottage Pie	In progress	Awaiting results
Rangeland	Range of burger products	Completed	Negative
Sodexo	Beef burgers Minced beef Halal minced beef	Completed	Negative
Taco Bell	Ground beef	Completed	Negative
Tesco	Everyday Value Frozen Burgers	Completed	Negative
	Everyday Value Spaghetti Bolognaise	Completed	Negative
	Tesco Simply Roast Meatloaf, 600g	Completed	Negative
Whitbread Group PLC	Lasagne product Beef burger product	Completed	Negative

This table had previously included a reference to a range of beef products from The Burger Manufacturing Company (BMC), after initial tests indicated that the products contained horse DNA to a 1% Limit of Detection. However, subsequent tests confirmed the presence of horse DNA at levels below the 1% threshold for reporting, so the products have been removed from the list.

More about bute

Bute was banned from most medical uses in humans after it was found that about 1 person in 30,000 recipients suffered a serious side effect. Of the bute levels reported in previous FSA testing of contaminated meat, the maximum level we found would have to be multiplied 1,000 times to be at the same level as that which used to be given to humans. This suggests that even if you have eaten products that contain horse meat contaminated with bute, the risk of damage to your health is very low