Horse found by Czechs in Polish beef burgers

photo - glowimages

State veterinary spokesman Josef Duben is quoted by the Czech CTK news agency as saying the contaminated beef burgers were being distributed by the Bidvest Czech Republic firm and the product has the Polish manufacturing number PL 084001 VVE, dated 21.12. 2012.

Horse has also been found in meat balls, made in Sweden, intended for use in the restaurants of the IKEA furniture chain in the Czech Republic.

“Based on inspections by the State Veterinary Institute in Olomouc and confirmed by the State Veterinary Institute in Prague, the State Veterinary Administration has reported these findings to the EU's Rapid Alert System (RASFF) and other EU Member States," Josef Duben announced on Monday morning.

"Both products were detained before being released for sale," the spokesman added.

The announcement of Polish-made beef burgers being contaminated by horse meat comes as Poland's agriculture minister claimed that Polish beef production is “clean as a whistle”.

This is the first time that horse meat has been found in Polish beef production, despite many claims in Irish, UK and German media that the country is one source of the Europe-wide scandal. (pg)