Birds Eye withdraws ready meals over horsemeat scandal

Birds Eye has found traces of horse DNA in its chilli con carne and has removed products off shelves

13:04 22 February 2013

Now Birds Eye has become the latest company to be entangled in the horsemeat scandal, after 2per cent horse DNA was found in its chilli con carne product in Belgium. Following the discovery in Europe, the firm has withdrawn ready meals from sale as a precaution.

The beef ready meals which have been taken off the shelves in the UK and Ireland include a type of Spaghetti Bolognese, Shepherd's Pie as well as Beef Lasagne.

Birds Eye has said that the situation is not a food safety issue but that it is “unacceptable”.

A spokesperson commented on the situation, saying: "We want to reassure you from the testing we have completed that all Birds Eye beef burgers, beef pies and beef platters do not contain horse DNA."

In a statement the group added: "We want to apologise to consumers and reassure them that we will keep them fully informed and that we are taking action to deal with this issue.”

An apology from the company was also published on the Birds Eye website. It read: "The withdrawn products will not be replaced on supermarkets shelves until we have finished our investigations and have complete confidence in this supplier.”

Any anyone who has bought the above meals will be entitled to a refund Birds Eye has confirmed.

This comes one month on from horsemeat being found in beefburgers. As a result, many frozen beefburgers were removed from shelves in the UK and Ireland. Horsemeat was also found in a type of lasagne meal linked to the company Findus’, as well as Nestle having to remove products from sale in Italy and Spain earlier this week.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA), who wanted to increase the number of tests being carried out with regards to certain beef products, is awaiting test results.