The Daily Telegraph. Horse meat in supermarket burgers linked to Dutch suppliers

Food standards officials in Ireland have asked their Dutch counterparts to investigate “several companies” in connection with the scandal.

Officials believe the horse meat in beefburgers sold by British supermarkets came from contaminated “filler” imported from Holland.
Food safety experts claimed that suppliers in Europe might have passed off horse filler as beef because it costs four times less.

However, under Dutch regulations, if a company is found to have deliberately passed off horse meat as beef, the maximum fine is just €1,050 (£880).

Industry insiders said horse meat from Holland was likely to have been imported from Argentina or Brazil.

Beef “filler” is used to bulk up meat using offcuts from the remnants of cattle carcasses. It is routinely used in cheap, own-brand meats sold in supermarkets.

Trading standards officials in North Yorkshire have visited the site and sent samples for DNA testing.

Silvercrest, the Irish company which supplied meat for beefburgers sold by Tesco which contained 29 per cent horse meat, stopped production yesterday.

The Irish government tested beefburgers at the factory and found that two thirds contained horse meat.

Simon Coveney, the Irish agriculture minister, confirmed that his department has been in contact with a food regulator in Europe.
He said: “We are closer [to knowing the source]. What we have from last night is that one of the ingredients in burgers that came from another EU country tested positive for horse DNA.

“We also know that same supplier supplied product into Liffey Meats and the factory in the UK.”

A spokesman for the Dutch food safety authority said: “We will be looking into a few companies as part of a first investigation.”
A spokesman for APB Foods, which owns both the Dalepak and Silvercrest plants, said: “The site is not closing whilst we wait for further test results, which are due imminently.