Horsemeat: EU test results published
The information comes from EU-wide testing for horse DNA and the veterinary drug phenylbutazone, as requested by and financed by the European Commission, in light of the horsemeat scandal.
Commissioner for Health and Consumers Tonio Borg explained that the findings confirmed the horsemeat issue was one of fraud and not an issue of food safety. “Restoring the trust and confidence of European consumers and trading partners in our food chain, following this fraudulent labelling scandal, is now of vital importance for the European economy, given that the food sector is the largest single economic sector in the EU,” he said.
Strengthened controls will be proposed in the coming months, Borg added, and he explained that lessons would be learnt from the incident along the food chain.
Testing
More than 7,000 tests were carried out by “competent” authorities in 27 EU countries, which tested 4,144 products for the presence of horse DNA. Of those tests, 193 were positive for horse DNA. Around 10-150 tests were carried out in each EU country, although Borg said the amount depended on the size of the country.
More than 3,000 products were tested for bute and 16 of those showed positive results. Tests for bute were carried out on the basis of one sample for every 50 tonnes of horsemeat, with a minimum of five tests on each batch. “Some member states exceeded the number of tests recommended by the Commission,” Borg said.
Not thorough enough
Meanwhile, the Humane Society International European Union director Dr Joanna Swabe explained that testing for only one banned drug (bute) “falls short of a precautionary and thorough approach to addressing fraud and ensuring food safety standards are met”.
She highlighted that bute is not the only drug posing a potential risk to human health and accused the European Commission of failing to look for other banned drugs commonly given to horses. “[The EC] is thereby failing the public by allowing meat from these animals to be sold in the European Union in contravention of its own food safety and consumer protection regulations.”
