Label scandal over beef in bangers

German sausage makers have been making the country's most popular food with beef but labeling it as something else.

Food hygiene officials in Hamburg found 16 of 103 sausages tested which were labelled as not containing beef actually had the meat inside.

Minister of Health Karin Roth said labels on the sausages had been changed or pasted over to put people's minds at rest that the sausages could have been infected by BSE.

The false labelling was discovered during nationwide testing in connection with the country's BSE crisis.

The cases have now been referred to the Public Prosecutor to determine whether the mis-labelling can be regarded as a criminal act.