Horsemeat found in Taco Bell's British beef as testing widens

The third wave of results

The UK's Food Standards Agency has received a third wave of beef test results — bringing the total to 5,430 tests — and the latest round has caught three more names: Taco Bell, Birds Eye, and Brakes.

In the newest batch of 1,797 products examined, horsemeat above the 1% adulteration threshold was found in:

• Taco Bell's Ground Beef — the chain has only three outlets in Britain; it says all affected stock has been removed
• Birds Eye's Traditional Spaghetti Bolognese and Beef Lasagne — taken off shelves last week as a precaution
• Brakes' Spicy Beef Skewer — the catering supplier, based in Ashford, Kent, said it was "very disappointed to have been let down" by suppliers

Across all testing, the FSA says more than 99% of results show no horse DNA at or above the 1% level — the threshold at which contamination counts as adulteration rather than accidental trace.

"Food quality is our highest priority"

Taco Bell said it had voluntarily tested its products after learning of the issue, traced the problem to "one supplier in Europe," and immediately withdrew the meat, discontinued purchases, apologized to customers, and reported to the FSA.

Birds Eye announced it was introducing an ongoing DNA testing program so that "no minced beef meat product can leave our facilities without first having been cleared by DNA testing."

Meanwhile, McDonald's reported that none of its meat products had tested positive — inviting customers to "continue to trust in the quality of food" at its restaurants.

The wider picture

The British Retail Consortium said 95% of its members' products had been checked, including all minced beef lines at the UK's largest supermarkets, with 0.3% of 1,889 tests since January 20 finding horsemeat. "Another intensive week of testing has produced no new positive results," said food director Andrew Opie.

The scandal, which began in January with horsemeat found in frozen burgers sold in the UK and Ireland, has now swept through Aldi, Co-op, Findus, Tesco, Asda, Sodexo (which supplies schools, care homes, and the armed forces), the Whitbread Group — and, just last week, Ikea's frozen meatballs, withdrawn after Czech tests found horse DNA.

Archive summary, March 2013, based on reporting by the BBC.