Man arrested in Yorkshire as part of horse meat inquiry
Three men were arrested tonight by officers investigating the horse meat scandal. One of the men was arrested at a plant in West Yorkshire.
FSA investigate Todmorden slaughterhouse
Peter Boddy slaughterhouse in Todmorden has been raided by the Food Standards Agency and the police investigating the horsemeat scandal
Horse meat raids: FSA statement
Police and the Food Standards Agency have raided a slaughterhouse in Todmorden as part of the probe into horse meat in processed burgers.
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Video: Horse meat scandal widens
The owner of a beefburger factory in Doncaster has told Calendar of his shock after the firm became the latest in the region to be drawn into the horse meat scandal.
Paragon Quality Foods says it can't explain the presence of horse DNA in a burger it supplied to the hotel and pub chain Whitbread, but says it's now testing its products every day in a laboratory to make sure they've got the all clear. Jon Hill reports.
Video: Horse meat latest
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Horse meat inquiry at South Yorkshire factory
The managing director of a beefburger factory in South Yorkshire has told Calendar of his shock after the firm was drawn into the horse meat scandal. Paragon Quality Foods in Doncaster says it cannot explain the presence of horse DNA in a burger it supplied to the hotel and pub chain Whitbread.
Statement from Paragon Quality Foods
Paragon Quality foods have released a statement after it was found some of the
beefburgers they supplied to a chain of hotels have been found to contain horse meat. It reads as follows:
- "Paragon Quality foods only buys beef from licensed and approved EU suppliers.
- Since the outbreak of the “horse meat scandal” in the European supply chain, we have carried out extensive testing for equine in our burgers all of which were clear to date, with the exception one product, which is still being investigated.
- Independently a number of our customers in the UK and Europe have also tested our products and to date all results were clear.
- Paragon have never knowingly bought or handled equine meat products. All our records are available for scrutiny to our customers and FSA officials."
– Spokesman, Paragon Quality Foods LtdThis is a supply chain problem across Europe due to the adulteration of raw material by criminal elements. As a key beef burger manufacturer the integrity of our product is paramount. We have therefore decided to implement an industry leading system of positive release of all products as from Monday 18th February 2013.
Horse meat found in South Yorkshire burgers
Doncaster food manufacturing company Paragon Quality Foods Ltd have confirmed that some beefburgers they supplied to a chain of hotels have been found to contain horsemeat.
The company says stressed it has only ever bought meat from reputable suppliers.
– Spokesman, Paragon Quality Foods Ltd“Paragon supplies Whitbread with three beefburgers, and we are advised that equine test results were clear for two of these products and positive for one.
The product in question was first produced by us on January 18, 2013.
We are conducting our own tests on the retained sample of this batch as part of our ongoing investigations.
Paragon have never knowingly bought or handled equine meat products. All our records are available for scrutiny to our customers and FSA officials.”
Video: Horse meat scandal - man arrested is released
A man from West Yorkshire, arrested as part of the horse meat mis-labelling scandal, has been released on bail. A slaughterhouse in Todmorden is under investgiation. Tina Gelder reports.
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Number of people who have eaten horse meat unknown
It is unlikely the exact number of people in the UK who have unwittingly eaten
horse meat will ever be known, the chief executive of the Food Standards Agency
(FSA) has conceded.
Catherine Brown said that testing was the right way to address the issue, and
said the focus would be on areas of higher risk.
But she admitted that how many people who had unknowingly eaten horse meat was
likely to be impossible to ascertain.
Horse meat evidence on going
Officials investigating the horse meat mis-labelling scandal will continue examining evidence today after three more plants were raided. To find out more on the issue nationally click here.
Three arrested over horse meat scandal released
Three men arrested on suspicion of fraud offences in relation to the horse meat scandal have been released on bail, as officials continue to examine evidence from three more plants. The men including a 63-year-old from West Yorkshire were arrested on February 14th.
They were released pending further inquires and will return to answer bail in Aberystwyth at a later date, Dyfed-Powys police said.
Asda test negative for horse meat
Supermarket giant Asda's statement:
"To date we have carried out 196 tests on Asda brand processed beef products, and have submitted all of these results to the BRC as requested."None of the Asda products tested positive for the presence of horsemeat against the Food Standards Agency’s threshold.
"This testing is being conducted on behalf of Asda by independent, externally accredited laboratories and is ongoing."We’re also increasing the number of independent unannounced audits weconduct across our entire meat supply chain.
"We will continue to do the right thing and take appropriate action where necessary to make sure our customers can be confident in the food they are eating"
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