Tests show up to 5% of EU beef products contain horsemeat

Up to 5% of European Union products labelled as beef contain horsemeat, according to results published by the European Commission yesterday (16 April). The results came after eight weeks of DNA testing on more than 4,000 beefs products, of which 193 were positive for horse.

The Commission also found that 0.5% of the 3,000 tested horse carcasses contained traces of phenylbutazone, known as bute, a potentially harmful drug which is banned from entering the human food chain. Ahead of the publication of the results, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) released a statement saying the bute residues were of low concern for consumers. There was also no evidence that eating horsemeat poses a health risk, it said. "Today's findings have confirmed that this is a matter of food fraud and not of food safety," said Health and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Tonio Borg. The tests were carried out at retail level on products marketed as beef and in horsemeat abattoirs to test for bute, for which the EU executive provided 75% of the funding.

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