BRITISH DONKEY SPAM AIDS WORRIES PATERSON

Horse meat scandal: 'More contaminated food likely to be found'

Horse meat could be found in even more British foods within days, ministers warned on Saturday.

 Britain has been eating scabby Romanian gypsy donkey..oh dear I do hope the British Government can try and sort this out without causing offence.

Telegraph claims horses in Romania affected by 'horse AIDS'.

Owen Paterson, the Environment Secretary, and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) said tests being held this weekend may well find more beef products contaminated with horse meat.

Officials at the FSA admitted that there have been no tests for horse meat content in British food for a decade, raising concerns that the scandal may have been hidden from the public for years.

Mr Paterson said retailers should remove products from shelves as soon there was any indication they might contain horse. Burgers and ready meals have already been withdrawn by Tesco, Findus and Aldi.

In a series of developments yesterday it emerged that:

• Twenty-eight local authorities have been instructed by the FSA to begin tests on a range of a limited number of beef products, including meat balls, burgers and lasagne ready meals;

• Mr Paterson said he believed there may be an “international criminal conspiracy”, while Scotland Yard met the FSA for talks but did not begin an investigation. Findus said it believed the contamination was “not accidental”;

• Horses in Romania — the source of the latest contamination — are “endemically” infected by a disease known as horse AIDS, although it does not pose a risk to humans;

• A French plant which handled horse meat sold in Britain as beef has previously been at the centre of a major E.coli discovery;

The latest developments came after Findus was forced to recall 18,000 packets of its frozen “beef” lasagne from supermarket shelves, and destroy another 200,000 held in storage, after it was discovered to be made up of between 60 and 100 per cent horse meat.

Aldi, the supermarket chain, also withdrew two of its ready meal lasagne and spaghetti ranges, which were found to contain between 30 and 100 per cent horse meat.

Mr Paterson ordered a summit in London yesterday with representatives of retailers and suppliers. After the summit, he issued the warning that more contamination was likely, saying there could be “bad results” from the tests now under way.

The 28 local authorities ordered to conduct tests have not been named but will be used as a sampling exercise to find the full scale of the contamination.

The tests will be the first in a decade. the FSA said it had previously only ordered tests on the basis of “intelligence” and none had been carried out since 2003, when Spanish-made salami was found to contain horse meat.

Mr Paterson said he feared the contamination was the result of crime and said: “This could be a question of gross incompetence but I’m now more concerned that there is actually an international criminal conspiracy here. This is a straight fraud. If a product says it’s beef and actually you are buying horse that is a fraud.”

He also said that retailers should products off the shelves as soon as there is a possible positive test for horse.

“Any retailer who becomes aware that a product has horse meat in it and withdraws it straight away will receive the full support of the Government,” he said.

Scotland Yard said it had met the FSA for discussions on possible criminal investigation but no inquiry had yet been launched.

However, one retailer warned that the complicated supply chains used by many suppliers made food safety hard to guarantee.

Dalton Philips, the chief executive of Morrisons, said that because the supermarket owned its own abbattoirs it could have absolute confidence in its products. “The truth is you have got to know your farmer.”

Fears over the safety of the horse meat are likely to be increased by the disclosure that Romania suffers from “endemic” infection of “equine anaemia”, or “horse AIDS”, which prompted a ban on live experts three years ago. Although it is not a danger to humans, experts said it could also suggest other health problems.

Meanwhile tests are taking place for the present of the horse painkiller bute, and Mr Patterson said that although no trace had yet been found, “we may discover that there may be other materials” in the horse meat.

Mr Paterson also suggested that retailers – rather than manufacturers - should ultimately take the responsibility for the content of the food they sell. The minister’s view may alarm corner shops and grocers who sell processed beef products, as they do not have the resources to test the content of food products.

Ministers have not ruled out actions against retailers in this country for failing to make adequate checks on their stock.

The horse meat crisis summit was held yesterday after Findus withdrew its meals last week. Yesterday it admitted that it first found traces of horse meat in its beef products on Tuesday 29 January.

However, it was not until Wednesday 6 January when Findus notified the FSA of the contamination, after it had carried out a range of tests including some DNA examinations of raw material at the factory where the meals were made in Luxembourg, which belongs to French food processor Comigel.

A spokesman for Findus said: “We are taking legal advice about the grounds for pursuing a case against our suppliers, regarding what we believe is their failure to meet contractual obligations about product integrity.

“The early results from Findus UK’s internal investigation strongly suggests that the horse meat contamination in beef lasagne was not accidental.”

It also emerged yesterday that Comigel last week told Findus that the contamination of its processed meat may stretch back to August last year.

However Findus said it was “not aware” of any issue of contamination with horse meat last year, adding: “We were only made aware of a possible August 2012 date through a letter dated 2 February 2013 from the supplier Comigel. By then we were already conducting a full supply chain traceability review and had pro-actively initiated DNA testing.”

Comigel, the French company which supplied meat to Findus and Aldi, has admitted that some of the horse in lasagne sold in Britain came from Romania, a country where equine infectious anaemia has become endemic.

Three years ago the European Union banned Romania from exporting horses with the disease and also banned live exports of all Romanian horses.

Romanian and Polish meat providers are supposed to comply with the same European-wide rules as British farmers, but it is up to authorities in individual members states to enforce these regulations. There is concern the Romanian authorities will have little resources or appetite to pursue suppliers responsible for contaminating British food.

By Robert Watts, Patrick Sawer and Laura Donnelly

BRITISH DONKEY SPAM AIDS WORRIES PATERSON

Horse meat scandal: 'More contaminated food likely to be found'

Horse meat could be found in even more British foods within days, ministers warned on Saturday.

 Britain has been eating scabby Romanian gypsy donkey..oh dear I do hope the British Government can try and sort this out without causing offence.

Telegraph claims horses in Romania affected by 'horse AIDS'.

Owen Paterson, the Environment Secretary, and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) said tests being held this weekend may well find more beef products contaminated with horse meat.

Officials at the FSA admitted that there have been no tests for horse meat content in British food for a decade, raising concerns that the scandal may have been hidden from the public for years.

Mr Paterson said retailers should remove products from shelves as soon there was any indication they might contain horse. Burgers and ready meals have already been withdrawn by Tesco, Findus and Aldi.

In a series of developments yesterday it emerged that:

• Twenty-eight local authorities have been instructed by the FSA to begin tests on a range of a limited number of beef products, including meat balls, burgers and lasagne ready meals;

• Mr Paterson said he believed there may be an “international criminal conspiracy”, while Scotland Yard met the FSA for talks but did not begin an investigation. Findus said it believed the contamination was “not accidental”;

• Horses in Romania — the source of the latest contamination — are “endemically” infected by a disease known as horse AIDS, although it does not pose a risk to humans;

• A French plant which handled horse meat sold in Britain as beef has previously been at the centre of a major E.coli discovery;

The latest developments came after Findus was forced to recall 18,000 packets of its frozen “beef” lasagne from supermarket shelves, and destroy another 200,000 held in storage, after it was discovered to be made up of between 60 and 100 per cent horse meat.

Aldi, the supermarket chain, also withdrew two of its ready meal lasagne and spaghetti ranges, which were found to contain between 30 and 100 per cent horse meat.

Mr Paterson ordered a summit in London yesterday with representatives of retailers and suppliers. After the summit, he issued the warning that more contamination was likely, saying there could be “bad results” from the tests now under way.

The 28 local authorities ordered to conduct tests have not been named but will be used as a sampling exercise to find the full scale of the contamination.

The tests will be the first in a decade. the FSA said it had previously only ordered tests on the basis of “intelligence” and none had been carried out since 2003, when Spanish-made salami was found to contain horse meat.

Mr Paterson said he feared the contamination was the result of crime and said: “This could be a question of gross incompetence but I’m now more concerned that there is actually an international criminal conspiracy here. This is a straight fraud. If a product says it’s beef and actually you are buying horse that is a fraud.”

He also said that retailers should products off the shelves as soon as there is a possible positive test for horse.

“Any retailer who becomes aware that a product has horse meat in it and withdraws it straight away will receive the full support of the Government,” he said.

Scotland Yard said it had met the FSA for discussions on possible criminal investigation but no inquiry had yet been launched.

However, one retailer warned that the complicated supply chains used by many suppliers made food safety hard to guarantee.

Dalton Philips, the chief executive of Morrisons, said that because the supermarket owned its own abbattoirs it could have absolute confidence in its products. “The truth is you have got to know your farmer.”

Fears over the safety of the horse meat are likely to be increased by the disclosure that Romania suffers from “endemic” infection of “equine anaemia”, or “horse AIDS”, which prompted a ban on live experts three years ago. Although it is not a danger to humans, experts said it could also suggest other health problems.

Meanwhile tests are taking place for the present of the horse painkiller bute, and Mr Patterson said that although no trace had yet been found, “we may discover that there may be other materials” in the horse meat.

Mr Paterson also suggested that retailers – rather than manufacturers - should ultimately take the responsibility for the content of the food they sell. The minister’s view may alarm corner shops and grocers who sell processed beef products, as they do not have the resources to test the content of food products.

Ministers have not ruled out actions against retailers in this country for failing to make adequate checks on their stock.

The horse meat crisis summit was held yesterday after Findus withdrew its meals last week. Yesterday it admitted that it first found traces of horse meat in its beef products on Tuesday 29 January.

However, it was not until Wednesday 6 January when Findus notified the FSA of the contamination, after it had carried out a range of tests including some DNA examinations of raw material at the factory where the meals were made in Luxembourg, which belongs to French food processor Comigel.

A spokesman for Findus said: “We are taking legal advice about the grounds for pursuing a case against our suppliers, regarding what we believe is their failure to meet contractual obligations about product integrity.

“The early results from Findus UK’s internal investigation strongly suggests that the horse meat contamination in beef lasagne was not accidental.”

It also emerged yesterday that Comigel last week told Findus that the contamination of its processed meat may stretch back to August last year.

However Findus said it was “not aware” of any issue of contamination with horse meat last year, adding: “We were only made aware of a possible August 2012 date through a letter dated 2 February 2013 from the supplier Comigel. By then we were already conducting a full supply chain traceability review and had pro-actively initiated DNA testing.”

Comigel, the French company which supplied meat to Findus and Aldi, has admitted that some of the horse in lasagne sold in Britain came from Romania, a country where equine infectious anaemia has become endemic.

Three years ago the European Union banned Romania from exporting horses with the disease and also banned live exports of all Romanian horses.

Romanian and Polish meat providers are supposed to comply with the same European-wide rules as British farmers, but it is up to authorities in individual members states to enforce these regulations. There is concern the Romanian authorities will have little resources or appetite to pursue suppliers responsible for contaminating British food.

By Robert Watts, Patrick Sawer and Laura Donnelly

BRITISH DONKEY SPAM AIDS WORRIES PATERSON

Horse meat scandal: 'More contaminated food likely to be found'

Horse meat could be found in even more British foods within days, ministers warned on Saturday.

 Britain has been eating scabby Romanian gypsy donkey..oh dear I do hope the British Government can try and sort this out without causing offence.

Telegraph claims horses in Romania affected by 'horse AIDS'.

Owen Paterson, the Environment Secretary, and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) said tests being held this weekend may well find more beef products contaminated with horse meat.

Officials at the FSA admitted that there have been no tests for horse meat content in British food for a decade, raising concerns that the scandal may have been hidden from the public for years.

Mr Paterson said retailers should remove products from shelves as soon there was any indication they might contain horse. Burgers and ready meals have already been withdrawn by Tesco, Findus and Aldi.

In a series of developments yesterday it emerged that:

• Twenty-eight local authorities have been instructed by the FSA to begin tests on a range of a limited number of beef products, including meat balls, burgers and lasagne ready meals;

• Mr Paterson said he believed there may be an “international criminal conspiracy”, while Scotland Yard met the FSA for talks but did not begin an investigation. Findus said it believed the contamination was “not accidental”;

• Horses in Romania — the source of the latest contamination — are “endemically” infected by a disease known as horse AIDS, although it does not pose a risk to humans;

• A French plant which handled horse meat sold in Britain as beef has previously been at the centre of a major E.coli discovery;

The latest developments came after Findus was forced to recall 18,000 packets of its frozen “beef” lasagne from supermarket shelves, and destroy another 200,000 held in storage, after it was discovered to be made up of between 60 and 100 per cent horse meat.

Aldi, the supermarket chain, also withdrew two of its ready meal lasagne and spaghetti ranges, which were found to contain between 30 and 100 per cent horse meat.

Mr Paterson ordered a summit in London yesterday with representatives of retailers and suppliers. After the summit, he issued the warning that more contamination was likely, saying there could be “bad results” from the tests now under way.

The 28 local authorities ordered to conduct tests have not been named but will be used as a sampling exercise to find the full scale of the contamination.

The tests will be the first in a decade. the FSA said it had previously only ordered tests on the basis of “intelligence” and none had been carried out since 2003, when Spanish-made salami was found to contain horse meat.

Mr Paterson said he feared the contamination was the result of crime and said: “This could be a question of gross incompetence but I’m now more concerned that there is actually an international criminal conspiracy here. This is a straight fraud. If a product says it’s beef and actually you are buying horse that is a fraud.”

He also said that retailers should products off the shelves as soon as there is a possible positive test for horse.

“Any retailer who becomes aware that a product has horse meat in it and withdraws it straight away will receive the full support of the Government,” he said.

Scotland Yard said it had met the FSA for discussions on possible criminal investigation but no inquiry had yet been launched.

However, one retailer warned that the complicated supply chains used by many suppliers made food safety hard to guarantee.

Dalton Philips, the chief executive of Morrisons, said that because the supermarket owned its own abbattoirs it could have absolute confidence in its products. “The truth is you have got to know your farmer.”

Fears over the safety of the horse meat are likely to be increased by the disclosure that Romania suffers from “endemic” infection of “equine anaemia”, or “horse AIDS”, which prompted a ban on live experts three years ago. Although it is not a danger to humans, experts said it could also suggest other health problems.

Meanwhile tests are taking place for the present of the horse painkiller bute, and Mr Patterson said that although no trace had yet been found, “we may discover that there may be other materials” in the horse meat.

Mr Paterson also suggested that retailers – rather than manufacturers - should ultimately take the responsibility for the content of the food they sell. The minister’s view may alarm corner shops and grocers who sell processed beef products, as they do not have the resources to test the content of food products.

Ministers have not ruled out actions against retailers in this country for failing to make adequate checks on their stock.

The horse meat crisis summit was held yesterday after Findus withdrew its meals last week. Yesterday it admitted that it first found traces of horse meat in its beef products on Tuesday 29 January.

However, it was not until Wednesday 6 January when Findus notified the FSA of the contamination, after it had carried out a range of tests including some DNA examinations of raw material at the factory where the meals were made in Luxembourg, which belongs to French food processor Comigel.

A spokesman for Findus said: “We are taking legal advice about the grounds for pursuing a case against our suppliers, regarding what we believe is their failure to meet contractual obligations about product integrity.

“The early results from Findus UK’s internal investigation strongly suggests that the horse meat contamination in beef lasagne was not accidental.”

It also emerged yesterday that Comigel last week told Findus that the contamination of its processed meat may stretch back to August last year.

However Findus said it was “not aware” of any issue of contamination with horse meat last year, adding: “We were only made aware of a possible August 2012 date through a letter dated 2 February 2013 from the supplier Comigel. By then we were already conducting a full supply chain traceability review and had pro-actively initiated DNA testing.”

Comigel, the French company which supplied meat to Findus and Aldi, has admitted that some of the horse in lasagne sold in Britain came from Romania, a country where equine infectious anaemia has become endemic.

Three years ago the European Union banned Romania from exporting horses with the disease and also banned live exports of all Romanian horses.

Romanian and Polish meat providers are supposed to comply with the same European-wide rules as British farmers, but it is up to authorities in individual members states to enforce these regulations. There is concern the Romanian authorities will have little resources or appetite to pursue suppliers responsible for contaminating British food.

By Robert Watts, Patrick Sawer and Laura Donnelly

BRITISH DONKEY SPAM AIDS WORRIES PATERSON

Horse meat scandal: 'More contaminated food likely to be found'

Horse meat could be found in even more British foods within days, ministers warned on Saturday.

 Britain has been eating scabby Romanian gypsy donkey..oh dear I do hope the British Government can try and sort this out without causing offence.

Telegraph claims horses in Romania affected by 'horse AIDS'.

Owen Paterson, the Environment Secretary, and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) said tests being held this weekend may well find more beef products contaminated with horse meat.

Officials at the FSA admitted that there have been no tests for horse meat content in British food for a decade, raising concerns that the scandal may have been hidden from the public for years.

Mr Paterson said retailers should remove products from shelves as soon there was any indication they might contain horse. Burgers and ready meals have already been withdrawn by Tesco, Findus and Aldi.

In a series of developments yesterday it emerged that:

• Twenty-eight local authorities have been instructed by the FSA to begin tests on a range of a limited number of beef products, including meat balls, burgers and lasagne ready meals;

• Mr Paterson said he believed there may be an “international criminal conspiracy”, while Scotland Yard met the FSA for talks but did not begin an investigation. Findus said it believed the contamination was “not accidental”;

• Horses in Romania — the source of the latest contamination — are “endemically” infected by a disease known as horse AIDS, although it does not pose a risk to humans;

• A French plant which handled horse meat sold in Britain as beef has previously been at the centre of a major E.coli discovery;

The latest developments came after Findus was forced to recall 18,000 packets of its frozen “beef” lasagne from supermarket shelves, and destroy another 200,000 held in storage, after it was discovered to be made up of between 60 and 100 per cent horse meat.

Aldi, the supermarket chain, also withdrew two of its ready meal lasagne and spaghetti ranges, which were found to contain between 30 and 100 per cent horse meat.

Mr Paterson ordered a summit in London yesterday with representatives of retailers and suppliers. After the summit, he issued the warning that more contamination was likely, saying there could be “bad results” from the tests now under way.

The 28 local authorities ordered to conduct tests have not been named but will be used as a sampling exercise to find the full scale of the contamination.

The tests will be the first in a decade. the FSA said it had previously only ordered tests on the basis of “intelligence” and none had been carried out since 2003, when Spanish-made salami was found to contain horse meat.

Mr Paterson said he feared the contamination was the result of crime and said: “This could be a question of gross incompetence but I’m now more concerned that there is actually an international criminal conspiracy here. This is a straight fraud. If a product says it’s beef and actually you are buying horse that is a fraud.”

He also said that retailers should products off the shelves as soon as there is a possible positive test for horse.

“Any retailer who becomes aware that a product has horse meat in it and withdraws it straight away will receive the full support of the Government,” he said.

Scotland Yard said it had met the FSA for discussions on possible criminal investigation but no inquiry had yet been launched.

However, one retailer warned that the complicated supply chains used by many suppliers made food safety hard to guarantee.

Dalton Philips, the chief executive of Morrisons, said that because the supermarket owned its own abbattoirs it could have absolute confidence in its products. “The truth is you have got to know your farmer.”

Fears over the safety of the horse meat are likely to be increased by the disclosure that Romania suffers from “endemic” infection of “equine anaemia”, or “horse AIDS”, which prompted a ban on live experts three years ago. Although it is not a danger to humans, experts said it could also suggest other health problems.

Meanwhile tests are taking place for the present of the horse painkiller bute, and Mr Patterson said that although no trace had yet been found, “we may discover that there may be other materials” in the horse meat.

Mr Paterson also suggested that retailers – rather than manufacturers - should ultimately take the responsibility for the content of the food they sell. The minister’s view may alarm corner shops and grocers who sell processed beef products, as they do not have the resources to test the content of food products.

Ministers have not ruled out actions against retailers in this country for failing to make adequate checks on their stock.

The horse meat crisis summit was held yesterday after Findus withdrew its meals last week. Yesterday it admitted that it first found traces of horse meat in its beef products on Tuesday 29 January.

However, it was not until Wednesday 6 January when Findus notified the FSA of the contamination, after it had carried out a range of tests including some DNA examinations of raw material at the factory where the meals were made in Luxembourg, which belongs to French food processor Comigel.

A spokesman for Findus said: “We are taking legal advice about the grounds for pursuing a case against our suppliers, regarding what we believe is their failure to meet contractual obligations about product integrity.

“The early results from Findus UK’s internal investigation strongly suggests that the horse meat contamination in beef lasagne was not accidental.”

It also emerged yesterday that Comigel last week told Findus that the contamination of its processed meat may stretch back to August last year.

However Findus said it was “not aware” of any issue of contamination with horse meat last year, adding: “We were only made aware of a possible August 2012 date through a letter dated 2 February 2013 from the supplier Comigel. By then we were already conducting a full supply chain traceability review and had pro-actively initiated DNA testing.”

Comigel, the French company which supplied meat to Findus and Aldi, has admitted that some of the horse in lasagne sold in Britain came from Romania, a country where equine infectious anaemia has become endemic.

Three years ago the European Union banned Romania from exporting horses with the disease and also banned live exports of all Romanian horses.

Romanian and Polish meat providers are supposed to comply with the same European-wide rules as British farmers, but it is up to authorities in individual members states to enforce these regulations. There is concern the Romanian authorities will have little resources or appetite to pursue suppliers responsible for contaminating British food.

By Robert Watts, Patrick Sawer and Laura Donnelly

BRITISH DONKEY SPAM AIDS WORRIES PATERSON

Horse meat scandal: 'More contaminated food likely to be found'

Horse meat could be found in even more British foods within days, ministers warned on Saturday.

 Britain has been eating scabby Romanian gypsy donkey..oh dear I do hope the British Government can try and sort this out without causing offence.

Telegraph claims horses in Romania affected by 'horse AIDS'.

Owen Paterson, the Environment Secretary, and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) said tests being held this weekend may well find more beef products contaminated with horse meat.

Officials at the FSA admitted that there have been no tests for horse meat content in British food for a decade, raising concerns that the scandal may have been hidden from the public for years.

Mr Paterson said retailers should remove products from shelves as soon there was any indication they might contain horse. Burgers and ready meals have already been withdrawn by Tesco, Findus and Aldi.

In a series of developments yesterday it emerged that:

• Twenty-eight local authorities have been instructed by the FSA to begin tests on a range of a limited number of beef products, including meat balls, burgers and lasagne ready meals;

• Mr Paterson said he believed there may be an “international criminal conspiracy”, while Scotland Yard met the FSA for talks but did not begin an investigation. Findus said it believed the contamination was “not accidental”;

• Horses in Romania — the source of the latest contamination — are “endemically” infected by a disease known as horse AIDS, although it does not pose a risk to humans;

• A French plant which handled horse meat sold in Britain as beef has previously been at the centre of a major E.coli discovery;

The latest developments came after Findus was forced to recall 18,000 packets of its frozen “beef” lasagne from supermarket shelves, and destroy another 200,000 held in storage, after it was discovered to be made up of between 60 and 100 per cent horse meat.

Aldi, the supermarket chain, also withdrew two of its ready meal lasagne and spaghetti ranges, which were found to contain between 30 and 100 per cent horse meat.

Mr Paterson ordered a summit in London yesterday with representatives of retailers and suppliers. After the summit, he issued the warning that more contamination was likely, saying there could be “bad results” from the tests now under way.

The 28 local authorities ordered to conduct tests have not been named but will be used as a sampling exercise to find the full scale of the contamination.

The tests will be the first in a decade. the FSA said it had previously only ordered tests on the basis of “intelligence” and none had been carried out since 2003, when Spanish-made salami was found to contain horse meat.

Mr Paterson said he feared the contamination was the result of crime and said: “This could be a question of gross incompetence but I’m now more concerned that there is actually an international criminal conspiracy here. This is a straight fraud. If a product says it’s beef and actually you are buying horse that is a fraud.”

He also said that retailers should products off the shelves as soon as there is a possible positive test for horse.

“Any retailer who becomes aware that a product has horse meat in it and withdraws it straight away will receive the full support of the Government,” he said.

Scotland Yard said it had met the FSA for discussions on possible criminal investigation but no inquiry had yet been launched.

However, one retailer warned that the complicated supply chains used by many suppliers made food safety hard to guarantee.

Dalton Philips, the chief executive of Morrisons, said that because the supermarket owned its own abbattoirs it could have absolute confidence in its products. “The truth is you have got to know your farmer.”

Fears over the safety of the horse meat are likely to be increased by the disclosure that Romania suffers from “endemic” infection of “equine anaemia”, or “horse AIDS”, which prompted a ban on live experts three years ago. Although it is not a danger to humans, experts said it could also suggest other health problems.

Meanwhile tests are taking place for the present of the horse painkiller bute, and Mr Patterson said that although no trace had yet been found, “we may discover that there may be other materials” in the horse meat.

Mr Paterson also suggested that retailers – rather than manufacturers - should ultimately take the responsibility for the content of the food they sell. The minister’s view may alarm corner shops and grocers who sell processed beef products, as they do not have the resources to test the content of food products.

Ministers have not ruled out actions against retailers in this country for failing to make adequate checks on their stock.

The horse meat crisis summit was held yesterday after Findus withdrew its meals last week. Yesterday it admitted that it first found traces of horse meat in its beef products on Tuesday 29 January.

However, it was not until Wednesday 6 January when Findus notified the FSA of the contamination, after it had carried out a range of tests including some DNA examinations of raw material at the factory where the meals were made in Luxembourg, which belongs to French food processor Comigel.

A spokesman for Findus said: “We are taking legal advice about the grounds for pursuing a case against our suppliers, regarding what we believe is their failure to meet contractual obligations about product integrity.

“The early results from Findus UK’s internal investigation strongly suggests that the horse meat contamination in beef lasagne was not accidental.”

It also emerged yesterday that Comigel last week told Findus that the contamination of its processed meat may stretch back to August last year.

However Findus said it was “not aware” of any issue of contamination with horse meat last year, adding: “We were only made aware of a possible August 2012 date through a letter dated 2 February 2013 from the supplier Comigel. By then we were already conducting a full supply chain traceability review and had pro-actively initiated DNA testing.”

Comigel, the French company which supplied meat to Findus and Aldi, has admitted that some of the horse in lasagne sold in Britain came from Romania, a country where equine infectious anaemia has become endemic.

Three years ago the European Union banned Romania from exporting horses with the disease and also banned live exports of all Romanian horses.

Romanian and Polish meat providers are supposed to comply with the same European-wide rules as British farmers, but it is up to authorities in individual members states to enforce these regulations. There is concern the Romanian authorities will have little resources or appetite to pursue suppliers responsible for contaminating British food.

By Robert Watts, Patrick Sawer and Laura Donnelly

100, 000+ Thousand March Against Austerity Ireland

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions,which organized the rallies, claimed more than 100,000 people attended, with 60,000 marching in Dublin. Demonstrators also protested in Cork, Galway, Limerick, Sligo and Waterford.

Union’s General Secretary David Begg suggested that the campaign against the debt will carry on until the European authorities honour the agreement to separate bank debt from sovereign debt.

"It would be fatal for people to believe this issue is now resolved and we can all move on," David Begg said. "At the onset of the crisis Ireland had one of the lowest debt to GDP ratios in Europe. The difference between then and now is due entirely to Ireland socializing bank debt at the behest of the ECB, to save the European banking system."

I've no confidence at all in the deal, it won't make any difference to ordinary people," said Alfie Murray who marching in Dublin with his 8-year-old grandson. "It's the next generation that'll shoulder the cost," he said.

Financial expert Marco Pietropoli explained that Irish per capita a far bigger bill than other countries. "Therefore they are suffering a great deal more.”

Pietropoli says that Ireland's situation is one of the most difficult in the EU and that Dublin's holding of the bloc's presidency isn't likely to make things any better.

“I don’t think the Irish with the presidency are necessarily going to be able to exert much pressure or much influence to actually change the situation in Europe, because the power remains with the Germans.”

Image from twitter user‏@kierfoley

Image from twitter user‏@gribers

Image from twitter user‏@Darren606

Con O'Driscoll

When we got to Cooke Street it was quarter past two having parked up in Thomas Street. Cooke Street was still packed with marchers end to end, AGSI lining up at the Christchurch end, Sinn Fein in the middle and the Communist Party of Ireland with a load of Belfast Trades who'd been decent enough to come down at the St Audoen's end. So me and. Y kids marched with the AGSI figuring if any hassle started that was likely the safest place to be. And because my family's got a load of guards past and present. In fact walking down by Dublin Castle I met my cousin who's a detective wearing his blue AGSI vest and I said to him "Yer grandad would be proud of ya" and he said "tis the first protest Ive attended without being paid to" and I said something like "Never too late to mend yer ways" and we had a laugh and a chat all down Dame Street. Very well mannered crowds the COPter overhead had nothing to report save overly conservative estimates as to numbers. If they'd kicked off at 1330 and were still leaving Cooke Street an hour later and were marching anything up to ten and twelve abreast someone do the math. Ended up in Merrion Square and the Union poobahs were making their speeches and I decided I'd heard what they had to say five years ago the last time or maybe four the last time Id been on a Mach like this. It Eas just as good tempered then too. Asides from the occasional Trot in Army Bargains surplus shouting at street corners about the property tax and the need for a national strike to show EUrope who's boss I saw no real anger. Reasonableness yes. Annoyance yes. Worry yes. No anger though. Wonder how long that'll last hopefully awhile yet. Wonder will AGSI great people for all they do to keep us safe will march again when things are less even tempered. If things are less even tempered I hope.

Kyerin

My mother was at the Dublin protest and she reckoned there were around 50,000 people there. When the first protesters arrived at Merrion Square her group had not even left Cook St. and they were not the last group either. She also felt the RTE coverage didn't give anything like an accurate picture of the amount of people there, in fact she was pretty disgusted with it.

Marty Carr

I thought protest meant riots.... when did the meaning of protests change!!!!

As for David Begg and the leaders of the Unions, you only have to check their salarys to know that they are not their for you, if you want to protest give up your union memebership and start your own amongst yourselves that has proper morals, for example the leadership cannot earn over the average industrial wage, and also is not allow to take salaries from multliple board memeberships like Begg has, sure he is complicit in the mess we are in.

Hanger on society we have!!!! its so depressing, thats why there are no new ideas!!!

Provisional Sinn fein

February 9th, 2013 - Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD

Sinn Féin respresentatives and activists were out in force to support ICTU’s anti-austerity rally today in Dublin.

Speaking after the event party spokesperson on social protection Aengus Ó Snodaigh said:

“We in Sinn Féin are proud to have supported ICTU’s ‘lift the burden’ rally today in Dublin.

“This week the government had an historic opportunity to secure a real reduction in the cost of the toxic banking debt foisted on the people by Fianna Fáil. Not only have Fine Gael and Labour wasted that opportunity, they have increased the cost of that burden for decades to come.

“The so-called deal will mean nothing to the families who are struggling to make ends meet. It will mean nothing to the mother who cannot put food on the table, to the father losing all hope of finding work, the family who have to wave goodbye to their loved ones at Dublin airport.

“The government is still pressing ahead with plans for water charges and a property tax – measures which will place even more of a burden on hard-pressed families.

“These issues and more made today’s rally all the more important.

“I hope that this will be the start of many popular demonstrations against the government’s reckless mismanagement of the economy.

“The message today was ‘lift the burden’ – I am calling on the government to listen to that message and realise that citizens cannot take anymore. We need a change of direction; we need a better fairer way.”

According to the SWP

"The energy to take resistance forward to a point where the country is shut down for a day will probably come from wider social movements – as occurred in Spain.

A national day of civil disobedience can bring together the growing movement against austerity and the increasing opposition to the waste of public money for these insane gambling debts.

This would involve walk outs from colleges, schools, workplaces as well as occupations and sit downs on roads.

Promoting and make concrete such a call should be a key task over the coming weeks. The government thinks it can contain demonstrations and marches such as we’ve seen so far so we need something different.

In the longer run, the power to terrify the political establishment lies in the workplaces and so the call for a national day of action must be part of a wider process of encouraging workers to use their industrial muscle to bring change.

In July 2013, for example, PAYE workers will face the prospect of their wage packets being raided once again by the Revenue Commissioners to collect the notorious property tax.

The more the movement builds up now to civil disobedience, the more likely it is that that grassroots of the union will remove or byepass that thin crust of union leaders whose primary loyalty is to the Labour Party when they see the effects of the property charge.

There can be a general stoppage in Ireland – but it won’t come without effort.