Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
FOOD GROUP BIRDSEYE has today said it will now be withdrawing some of its beef products following tests that revealed one of its products contained horse DNA.
In a statement today, the company said its chilli con carne, produced by Frigilunch NV and sold in Belgium, has tested positive for horse DNA at 2 per cent. The product has now been withdrawn from sale in Belgium.
As a “precuationary measure” it said other products produced by the same supplier, namely Traditional Spaghetti Bolognese 340g, Shepherd’s Pie 400g and Beef Lasagne 400g will be withdrawn in the UK and Ireland.
However Birdeye moved to reassure customers saying that all of its beef burgers, pies and platters were clear of horse DNA in the tests.
It also said the withdrawn products will not be replaced on supermarkets shelves until it has finished investigations and has “complete confidence in this supplier”.
Since the first discovery of horsemeat in some beef products produced by a number of manufactures and retailers, the company has been checking the integrity of its own beef products.
“We aim to uphold the highest standards of food production and labelling and the reliability of our supply chain is fundamental in delivering this,” Birdseye said. “We therefore immediately initiated a Europe-wide testing programme for horse DNA and completed audits of all our suppliers. We have now conducted tests on all of our beef products.”
“We want to apologise to consumers and reassure them that we will keep them fully informed and that we are taking action to deal with this issue,” it added.
Customers will be given a full refund on products already purchased and can contact the consumer services careline on 1850 298 398.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
The Irish banks are the problem; they are not part of the solution.
The Irish banks, when unleashed on defaulting home mortgagors, will cause pandemonium and will trigger even greater holes in their capital adequacy. The Irish banks are actually insolvent. Some buy to let lending on property is just a superficial pretence that they are back in business.
The elephant in the room is that the Irish banks are bust, insolvent, broken, wrecked and no one wants to recognise that hard reality.
The true extent of mortgage debt default has not yet been properly accounted for by the Banks.
One magazine broadly agrees with your analysis.
http://moneyweek.com/money-morning-ireland-irish-economy-property-and-stocks-60900/
one room to the other room lucky to have the house ..who do you think you are codding Mr Kenny
The emperor has no clothes. Today does not change our dismal economic reality. Combined public and household debt is unsustainable. The burden of debt is too great for Ireland.
The reality is that Ireland is a failed economic state and a steadily failing economy. We can deny that reality for a while but reality will will come knocking on the door.
Platitudes about recovering part of our sovereignty are meaningless and trite.
The article above is a much needed reality check but people will not listen to that reality.
The dismal legacy of he false boom years is a permanent yoke on the necs of the Irish people who, according to Enda Kenny, have only themselves to blame.
The Banks will continue to pursue strategies which are mildly beneficial to the banks but deeply damaging to a failing economy. The mortgage impairment crisis in 2014 and 2015 will be the final nail in the coffin. There is no escaping our fate. The centre cannot hold.
Damien is right to point out the myth that banks have much interest in the real economy of businesses, employment and production of goods and services.
The real economy is merely a sideline that gains them entry to the real game of rent extraction in partnership with the rich, plus, recently, the marvellous public ‘insurance’ that ensures any losses are passed on to ordinary citizens or ‘socialised’.
Globally, this ‘laissez faire’ model has been promoted thru’ deregulation over decades.
Banks have become funds for the purchase of existing assets to be rented out at excessive profit and/or capital gains, with a banking licence tacked on.
Integration with the payments system and various cross connected derivative bets ensure that any failure topples them all in a domino effect, so that governments are obliged to cover any losses they make. This construction was no accident, rather quite deliberate.
And absolutely nothing has been done about it by the political classes. In fact, these ‘systemically’ important ‘too big to fail’ banks are now bigger than ever.
The payments system banking of the high street needs to be separated, as it was following the 1929 crash, from the casino and ‘derivative’ bet banking operations, as a minimum.
But it would appear that the banking lobby has already effectively bought politics and most of the public service advisers, media and mainstream academe.
Mike Hall, well and truly said.
DEFAULT THE ONLY OPTION
So Damien you are basically saying young Irish Citizens were screwed by developers in the noughties, screwed by the Troika for the past three years, and are going to be screwed by bankers and vulture capitalists for the rest of there lives. How did we let this happen under our noses and did nothing?
Welcome to Ireland David. The elite in this country screw it up time and time again. Generation after generation. Just watch reeling in the years, its the same story decade after decade. The PAYE worker foots the bill, and theres no accountability for those who screw it up.
The PAYE will pay.
The law should be set up in away that if the borrower can’t service the loan he just has to hand back the house ,the bank made a decision when they loan the money that the value was in it ,I know it Is not a simple as it sound,s but some mechanism could be worked out ,it would make them more cautious ,it would alter the power they have and stop the big jump in value and it would also control the house selling agents that were riding the wave .
Actually it is as simple as it sounds and works in places such as the US. There are several advantages to the system one of which is that banks that push up a property bubble by imprudent lending pay the cost when mortgages default and they can’t just hound the borrowers forever.
Foreclosure is the name of that system but now it is too late for that solution. The Irish Banks will find that they can’t get blood out of a stillness.
It was the lending policies of the Banks which caused the massive asset bubble. Now they will try to get their pound of flesh. They will fail. The money is not there. The reality is that any home possessions will simply crystallise large losses.
The banks will end up carrying out massive write downs but only after they have caused untold misery.
The situation is totally unsustainable but we comfort ourselves with the delusion that we have successfully exited the bail out.
At least we no longer have to hear commentators describe the Irish electorate as the most intelligent and sophisticated in the world. This electorate putFianna Fáil coalitions into government three times in a row. Madness.
A property obsessed nation followed its love affair with property like a moth to a flame.
Property has been our destruction hastened by plentiful cheap euros.
The Baron of Ballsbridge showed us the madness at work but he was just holding up a mirror to the rest of us.
Ronan Lyons explains here the stimulus for a “no brainer” speculative culture.
http://www.ronanlyons.com/2009/06/12/property-a-shining-example-of-never-a-better-time-to-save/
Most newspapers want this reality hidden from us so their beloved coalition can boast about “regaining sovereignty”
“A Nation once again” – me hole.
It is rather depressing reading the above and the comments. What a mess this country is. I think the saddest thing is the meek reaction of the people. Where is our fight or sense of pride? Why are we not standing up for ourselves.
I guess the reality is that the majority are comfortable enough – in jobs and without huge debts – and not overly willing to see any real change. For the minority who are unemployed or underemployed it is a case of suck it up.
What hope is there for young people who want to get decent employment, start a family and have a home? People are simply locked out with no opportunity. What a legacy has been left.
Where do you arrive at the figure of 52% of pay deducted in Paye/Prsi & Usc? If a Single person is on €33k, they pay €7900 in the three taxes. That works out at 23.8%. A long way off 52%
Good analysis! Question is: what happens next? It doesn’t need an accountant to tell you Ireland is enslaved forever.
If you haven’t seen the Oscar-winning documentary ‘Inside Job’ already I recommend you do now.
Only the little people get hurt, only the little people. We need an Oliver Cromwell to deal with this.
politican vs banker = golf buddies
Great article – a day after a TD suggest Nama are selling off greatly reduced properties to developers. Will we ever be able to stop the money junkies ie bankers, politicians, charity bosses, developers etc? They can’t wait to get their next fix. Like most junkies the price is paid for their addiction by others. It won’t stop until somebody kicks them out of their homes and their comfortable jobs.
have your say