Tesco withdraws beef products following horse DNA finding

Tesco Plc, the UK's largest grocer, said some beef products had been withdrawn from its shelves after tests by the Food Safety Authority (FSA) of Ireland found some contained horse DNA.

The retailer said on its web site that two frozen beef burger products sold in both the UK and Ireland had horse DNA. ''We immediately withdrew from sale all products from the supplier in question,'' the retailer added.

According to Irish food safety authorities around 37 per cent of the beef burger products it examined in a broad survey tested positive for horse DNA, while 85 per cent showed pig DNA. The food safety agency said those with the horse cells were produced by processing plants in Ireland and the UK. The agency listed Tesco as one of the retailers of the products.

According to Alan Reilly, chief executive of the Irish agency, the beef did not pose any public health concerns. He added there was no clear explanation for the presence of the horse DNA.

Reilly said in Ireland it was not in the culture to eat horse meat and it was therefore not expected to find it in a burger.

The affected products had been supplied to Tesco in Ireland by Silvercrest Foods, a unit of Irish company ABP Food Group, according to a Tesco spokeswoman.