Source of horse in burgers may never be known

The origin of the horsemeat found in burgers produced in the Silvercrest plant may never be known, it has emerged.

Poland’s veterinary authority found no signs of horsemeat in samples from five slaughterhouses that were sending beef to Ireland and will know the results from the sixth on Monday, state news agency PAP reported yesterday.

However, an inspection carried out by EU authorities into the Polish horsemeat industry last year found that forms filled in to keep track of the identity of the animals in the abattoirs were incomplete, missing, or inaccurate in many cases.