THE UK’S FOOD Safety Authority has released the latest information on its tests for horsemeat in food products.

It said that four new products were found to contain horsemeat, since the previous set of industry results was announced last week.

These are covered by 10 test results that show horse DNA at or above the threshold. The products have been withdrawn from sale.

• Makro frozen MQ 100 per cent Aberdeen Angus Beef burgers 12 6oz
• The Burger Manufacturing Company – a range of beef products

The FSA has published 1797 new results, which show that over 99 per cent of its tests continue to show no horse DNA at or above the level of 1 per cent.

Confirmed

There are now 17 products confirmed as containing over 1 per cent of horse DNA, and to date, no tests of products containing such DNA have found the presence of the veterinary medicine phenylbutazone (bute).

The FSA said its focus continues to be on gross contamination of beef products with horse meat – more than 1 per cent horse DNA detected in them – and it believes:

such levels of horse DNA indicate either gross negligence or deliberate substitution of one meat for another.

The FSA said that industry will continue to test for the presence of horse DNA in its beef products, reporting to the FSA, and these tests will be published at quarterly intervals. However, food businesses will report any cases of contamination of above 1 per cent. These figures will be published, as soon as they are received, on the FSA website.

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.

Read: Traces of horsemeat DNA found in Polish beef>