Horse meat scandal expected to trigger higher regulation

The discovery of horse meat in beef products may see the introduction of a slew of regulation for the European food industry, with agriculture ministers set to meet tomorrow in Brussels amid rising British cattle prices.

An informal meeting of relevant agriculture ministers and the EU commissioner for health and consumer policy Tonio Borg would be convened in the Belgian capital tomorrow by Ireland, which holds the six-month rotating EU presidency.

The EU's largest beef producer, France would push for compulsory labelling of the origin of meat in processed food, agriculture minister Stephane Le Foll said yesterday.

Supermarkets in the UK, France, Ireland and Germany removed frozen beef burgers and lasagnas from shelves and France has threatened sanctions for negligence and fraud.

Meanwhile, UK's The Telegraph newspaper said, Catherine Brown, the head of the UK's Food Standard Agency, called on retailers to also test pork and chicken products for cross contamination.

According to Bryan Roberts, director of retail at market researcher Kantar Retail in London, this was going to run and spread across Europe. He added, that for now, it was limited to beef and supermarkets, but it would be really worrying if it started hitting food services in hospitals and schools.