‘Diseased or injured animals’ concerns

Burgers containing horse meat could have been made from “diseased or injured animals”, according to environmental health experts.

Health concerns have been raised by the Society of Chief Officers of Environmental Health in Scotland (SOCOEHS) over the safety of beefburgers which have been found to contain horse meat.

The chief of the SOCOEHS said “there is no way of telling whether the meat is safe” because these burgers have bypassed official inspection.

John Sleith, chairman of the organisation, said: “We note that statements are being made that it is not a health issue, but our concern is that there is no information on how the horse meat came to be in the burgers and so there is no way of telling whether the meat is safe to eat, it could be from diseased or injured animals, for example.

“If it hasn’t come through the official inspection system, then there is no confidence that it is completely harmless.

“Investigations are being carried out in the Irish Republic on exactly how these burgers were made.”

Mr Sleith said the scandal was an example of “food fraud”, which was becoming an increasing problem.

“This episode is indicative of a growing trend we are finding, where there is substitution of meat products.

“Food fraud is big business and food inspectors have to be alert to it.

“Food officers regularly carry out spot-checks on food producers and manufacturers at every level, including taking random samples for analysis.

“We would urge the public, or indeed food workers, to contact their local environmental health office if they suspect anything unusual in their food or drinks products.”

Supermarket giant Tesco has apologised to customers for selling beefburgers containing horse meat.

The apology came as a reported £300m (€360m) was wiped off Tesco’s stock market value.

Tesco’s apology came as a food expert claimed horse meat could have been in beef burgers for years, but remained undetected because of insufficient food regulation.

The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) said it would consider taking legal action against companies at the centre of the scandal.

However, the organisation was criticised for not carrying out tests in the past because horse meat posed no threat to public health, The Daily Telegraph said.

Tim Lang, a professor of food policy at City University in London, told the newspaper: “It could have been going on for years, but we wouldn’t know about it because we have never conducted tests.

“For too long we have had light-touch regulation.

“The Food Standards Agency has to be institutionalised into taking a more critical approach.

“They have to work on the assumption that things could go wrong.”

The ABP Food Group, one of Europe’s biggest suppliers and processors, is being investigated by health and agriculture authorities in the UK and Ireland over the controversy.

Two of its subsidiaries, Silvercrest Foods in Ireland and Dalepak Hambleton in Yorkshire, supplied beef burgers with traces of equine DNA to supermarkets, including one product classed as 29% horse.

A third company, Liffey Meats in Co Cavan, was also found to be supplying products to supermarkets with traces of horse DNA.