Food group to hire new personnel
Responsibility for the business has transferred to ABP Ireland (the Irish chilled beef division) from the convenience foods division, and the sister business in the UK, Dalepak Foods, where equine DNA was also found in burgers, will come under the immediate control of ABP UK (the British chilled beef business).
ABP Food Group has also announced independent auditing of all its third party suppliers, and has already started to implement a new DNA testing regime over and above any legal requirements, in addition to existing food safety testing,
The company said it has never knowingly bought or processed horse meat, all its purchases are from approved and licensed EU plants, and the source of contaminated meat from Poland is not related to ABP’s plant in Poznan, which does not process horse meat.
Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney said there was no evidence that ABP had used horse meat deliberately, and he has been assured by ABP management that it will fully comply with conditions the minister will apply to continued production standards at Silvercrest.
The company will commence a deep cleansing of the plant under new management and will submit to a six-month direct scrutiny by department inspectors, after which it will be reviewed.
As part of this supervision, the department will carry out weekly sampling of production.
A key component is the company’s commitment to source all its raw material from Ireland and the UK.
*A Spanish consumer rights organisation has found horse DNA in fresh burgers sold in Spanish supermarkets.
Meanwhile, Poland’s General Veterinary Inspectorate has commenced inspections which it says will reveal if beef contaminated with horse meat was exported to Ireland.
