UK: Tainted horsemeat may be in French food chain

(File photo) A butcher prepares meat at his horse-meat butcher shop 18 January 2007 in Paris

London -- Horse carcasses contaminated with an equine painkiller harmful to humans may have entered the food chain in France, UK food inspectors said Thursday, the latest twist in a Europe-wide crisis over rogue horsemeat in beef products.

Eight out of 206 horse carcasses checked between January 30 and February 7 tested positive for the drug phenylbutazone, widely known as bute, the UK Food Standards Agency said.

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Of these, six went to France -- raising concerns they may have entered the food chain there.

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The agency is working with French authorities to try to trace the six carcasses, which were slaughtered at an abattoir in Somerset, England.

The two others that tested positive, at a different slaughterhouse, did not leave the premises and have been disposed of, the agency said.

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Bute is not allowed to enter the human food chain.

The drug is no longer approved for human use in the United States, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration website says, because "some patients treated with phenylbutazone have experienced severe toxic reactions."

The drug can cause various blood conditions and is a carcinogen, the FDA says.

But the UK's Chief Medical Officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, sought to reassure worried consumers.

It is "extremely unlikely" that anyone who has consumed affected horsemeat will suffer harmful side effects, she said in a statement Thursday.

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"At the levels of bute that have been found, a person would have to eat 500 to 600 burgers a day that are 100% horse meat to get close to consuming a human's daily dose. And it passes through the system fairly quickly, so it is unlikely to build up in our bodies," she said.

France's agriculture minister is to hold a news conference later Thursday.

Over the past week, unauthorized horsemeat has been discovered in a variety of products labeled as beef that were sold in supermarkets in countries including Britain, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany and Ireland.

German supermarket chain Real confirmed Wednesday that samples of a frozen beef lasagna had tested positive for horsemeat. Fellow supermarket chains Rewe and Tengelmann told CNN they are examining certain beef products as a precaution.

Ministers met for emergency talks in Brussels, Belgium, Wednesday on how to tackle a crisis that has thrown the European meat industry into disarray.

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It was already reeling from a bombshell last month, when Irish investigators found horse and pig DNA in a number of hamburger products. The discovery of pig DNA in beef products is of particular concern to Jews and Muslims, whose dietary laws forbid the consumption of pork products. Jewish dietary laws also ban the eating of horsemeat.

Following Wednesday's talks, Irish Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney said the ministers had agreed to implement measures including random DNA testing of processed beef products across the European Union's 27 member states.

The United Kingdom is awaiting the outcome of "authenticity" tests on beef products ordered last week by the Food Standards Agency across the UK food industry. The results are due by Friday.

Investigations into what could be criminal fraud somewhere in the supply chain are being led by Europol, the European Union's law enforcement agency.

UK Environment Secretary Owen Paterson, who met with Europol officials Thursday, said: "This is an incredibly important step. It's increasingly clear that this case reaches right across Europe.

"It's clear that Europol is the right organization to coordinate efforts to uncover all wrongdoing and bring criminals to justice, wherever there may be."

Meanwhile, steps have been taken to tighten up the legitimate slaughter of horses in the United Kingdom.

Beginning January 30, the Food Standards Agency ordered 100% testing of horse carcasses, and, as of this week, their meat will not be allowed to enter the food chain until the all-clear has been given.

Previously a random sample was tested. In 2012, 6% of horse carcasses tested positive for bute, the agency said.

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