Chief Executive of Tesco Philip Clarke. REUTERS/Darren
Staples
Tesco, Britain's biggest grocer, said on Tuesday it
withdrew its line of frozen meatloaf after it tested positive
for between 2 to 5 percent horsemeat.
The company said it pulled from its shelves Tesco Simply
Roast Meatloaf 600g packs made between October 2012 and
January 2013 at Eurostock in Craigavon, Northern Ireland.
Tesco said it would complete its own investigation into
tracing the source of contamination before it took a call to
continue with the supplier.
Tests on 15 other product lines from the same manufacturing
site were clear of horsemeat, Tim Smith, Tesco's technical
director said in a statement.
Europe's horsemeat scandal erupted in January, when testing
in Ireland revealed that some beef products also contained
equine DNA. It since has spread across the continent,
ensnaring numerous well-known brands, prompting product
withdrawals, consumer concerns and government investigations
into the region's complex food-processing chains.
Smith said Tesco had tested more than 500 products as part of
its DNA testing program and that this was the fourth
Tesco-branded product to have tested positive.
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