The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority has issued a preventative block on all shipments from an unnamed Dutch slaughterhouse after it found horsemeat in four shipments labelled ‘beef’.
Investigators claimed the slaughterhouse in the eastern province of Gelderland “is not in order.”
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The movement of over 690 tons of meat has been blocked until the company can demonstrate the content and origin of the meat. It has been given until February 23 to provide traces for all meat, meat products and carcasses the business has had in its possession from January 1 2012 to January 23 2014.
The horsemeat scandal first hit news headlines last January and since then has seen authorities clamp down on meat product manufacturers and distributors.
However, since the height of the saga, there have been further concerns over horsemeat in the supply chain.
Towards the end of last year the UK Food Standards Agency uncovered horse DNA in tins of sliced beef on sale at UK discounters Home Bargains and Quality Save. The beef had been shipped in from Romania.
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By GlobalDatajust-food also reported in December on the arrest of 20 people in France who were suspected of participating in illegal horse trafficking.
Staff from French trader Equidaniel were suspected of participating in the illegal trade, as well as employees from an abattoir in Spain.
Equidaniel is thought to have acquired some of the horses from French pharmaceutical firm Sanofi Pasteur. The horses were said to have been used in scientific programmes between 2010 and 2012. Sanofi Pasteur told just-food the company had been the victim of fraud.
