JBS dragged into European horsemeat scandal as Nestle, others react
By Meatingplace Editors on 2/19/2013
JBS SA has suspended contracts with a German processor allegedly involved in the discovery of horsemeat in Europe's meat supply as Nestle SA and British citizens take steps to respond to the month-long scandal.
Following the discovery of horse DNA in beef burgers in Britain and Ireland last month, several developments led up to JBS, the world's largest beef supplier, to take action against H.J. Schypke, the German third-party contractor that sold beef under the JBS name:
Inspectors uncovered 100 percent horsemeat in lasagna made by sold in Britain by processor Findus.
Comigel of France, which supplied the lasagna meat withdrew its products and blamed another French meat company, Spanghero, for supplying the horsemeat.
Spanghero announces plans to sue the Romanian firm it says provided the meat.
Romania denies any involvement in the expanding problem after an investigation.
French, Swiss, Dutch and Swedish supermarkets remove ready-made meals from their shelves as a precaution.
British officials arrest three men on suspicion of violating the nation's fraud act in connection with the horsemeat scandal.
More horsemeat is discovered in frozen lasagna in Germany and Switzerland in addition to Norway, Austria and Bulgaria.
Meanwhile, Nestle began removing ready-to-eat pasta meals from store shelves in Italy and Spain after discovering what the Swiss-based food company described as traces of horsemeat in two chilled products – Buitoni Beef Ravioli and Beef Tortellini – sourced H.J Schypke on behalf of a JBS subsidiary in Belgium.
Pulling products that contained meat made up of more than one percent of horse DNA was not an issue of food safety and more of an issue of product mislabeling, according to Nestle officials. For its part, JBS said it will not sell processed beef in Europe through third parties until its production and delivery systems are secured as the company tries to fill orders using its own production lines.
Back in Ireland, Agriculture Minister Michelle O'Neill stressed that the situation has no link to traceable beef processed in Northern Ireland and has spread into a pan-European crisis that will continue to be investigated by a variety of food safety agencies.
The reassurances followed a poll that found that 31 percent of British adults have stopped buying ready-to-eat meals because of the horsemeat issue and seven percent have stopped eating meat completely. The survey for the Sunday Mirror and The Independent also found that 44 percent believe the British government has responded well to the crisis, while 30 percent disagreed.
