Iceland's own products clear of horse DNA
by Chris Choi - Consumer EditorIceland has confirmed all of its own brand products have been checked for the presence of horse DNA and all results are clear.
Latest on horsemeat scandal
The latest news on the discovery of horsemeat in beef products across the country.
Tesco: No horsemeat found in 149 products tested
Tesco has confirmed that it has completed tests on 149 products as part of its new horse DNA testing programme.
The products came back with negative results for horse meat.
The tests were focused on products where minced red meat is used as an ingredient, which includes products such as burgers and ready meals.
The group's technical director, Tim Smith said:
"This is the start of our testing programme to support our promise that what’s on the label is in the pack.
"We are now extending our use of DNA testing to look at those products where we think that there is a greater risk of rogue ingredients being used.
And we are not going to stop there. We will test all of our meat-containing products next and then move on to other foods.
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Sainsbury's: No horsemeat in our products
– Sainsbury's spokesmanNo trace of horsemeat has been found in any of our products, however we are playing our part in the wider industry investigation including carrying out further testing.
These have all been negative to date, if we find any horse DNA in our products we will take immediate action.
Co-operative: No horse DNA in 59 tested products
The Co-operative has released independent test results on whether horse DNA was found in their products, the findings so far are:
- Horse DNA has not been found in the 59 products tested so far.
- The Co-operative sent 102 own-brand minced beef products for testing.
A Co-operative spokesperson said:
We are have commissioned stringent ongoing independent testing on our own-brand products containing minced beef, as agreed with the Food Standards Agency. Today’s results have shown that, so far, no products in the current batch of those being tested have been found to contain horse DNA. Our tests are still ongoing and we continue to work with both the FSA and the British Retail Consortium, and expect to issue further updates in the next few days.
The seven contaminated products
- Aldi - Today special frozen lasagne.
- Aldi - Today special frozen spaghetti bolognese.
- Co-op - Beef burger quarter pounder.
- Findus - Beef lasagne 320g, 360g, 500g.
- Rangeland - Range of catering products.
- Tesco - Everyday value frozen burger.
- Tesco - Everyday value spaghetti bolognese.
The Food Standards Agency's director of communications Stephen Humphreys said he could "assure" the public that all seven had now been taken off the shelves.
Gateshead Council reassures parents that no horse meat found in school meals
In light of the FSA's report, released today, that announced that horse meat has been found in some school meals in Lancashire, Gateshead Council have released the following statement about schools in the area and their provision of school meals:
– Dale Robson, Service Director for Transport, Cleaning and Catering at Gateshead CouncilI am happy to reassure parents that the fresh meat in meals served in Gateshead schools is locally-sourced and does not contain horse meat.
We use a highly-reputable Gateshead-based catering butcher for all of
our meat supplies. The meat they supply us with is locally-sourced and
comes mostly from farms in the North of England via abattoirs which do
not slaughter horses.
As a result, we currently have no plans to remove beef from school menus.
Parents rightly demand that we only serve high-quality and fully-traceable meat to their children that is prepared fresh each day. That’s exactly what we do.