Baby food to be tested for horse DNA under new regime

The Food Safety Authority has confirmed that baby food will be among the items examined as part of a new Europe-wide testing regime next month to counter the fallout from the horsemeat scandal.

Heinz and Plum Foods have already conducted their own tests on their baby products to ensure any meat content does not have horse DNA.

The new testing regime will cover the entire month of March and each country must submit its test results by mid-April. A spokesperson for the FSAI said baby food would be included in the regime.

The FSAI said producers now wanted to be “ahead of the curve” when it came to highlighting any problems.

Yesterday, a spokesperson for Cow & Gate in Dublin confirmed that the company had already begun carrying out DNA tests, including on baby food, and that the results were expected shortly.

However, the company spokesperson said Cow & Gate used only baby-grade ingredients sourced from specially selected farmers with whom it had a longstanding relationship.

Nigel Dickie, director of corporate and government affairs for Heinz UK & Ireland, said: “Test results we have already received for around half of the near 40 beef-containing Heinz varieties, including Weight Watchers from Heinz frozen meals, Heinz soup, and baby foods, have found nothing unexpected and support our meat ingredient labelling.

“No equine DNA has been detected in the independent tests which have been shared with the [UK] Food Standards Agency. Further sampling results, as part of the industry-wide programme, are anticipated to be completed over the next few days.”