January 31, 2014

The Netherlands authorities discover more horse meat in beef products

After investigators found horse meat in four shipments labelled as beef products, the Dutch Foods and Wares Authority says it has "preventatively" blocked all shipments from a Dutch slaughterhouse.

The agency did not identify the slaughterhouse, other than saying it was in the eastern province of Gelderland. It also said it could not tell from the slaughterhouse's records where the products containing horse meat may have been shipped.

In order to give the slaughterhouse's management time to trace all meat shipments between January 1, 2012, and January 23, 2014, the agency has blocked the movement of all 690 tonnes of meat in the slaughterhouse's freezers and refrigerators until February 3.

If the company cannot produce satisfactory documentation about where the products went, the slaughterhouse's meat will be recalled, the agency said.