FDBusiness.com

The Department for Agriculture, Food and the Marine in Ireland has received a test result confirming 75% equine DNA in a raw material ingredient at beef burger producer Rangeland Foods in County Monaghan. The Department has been conducting further enquiries to establish whether Polish labelled product has been used in other meat processing plants in Ireland following the results at Silvercrest Foods. These enquiries remain ongoing.

Rangeland Foods had already notified the Department of its use of Polish meat ingredients in the manufacture of certain burger lines due to the suspicion of the presence of equine DNA. The Department took samples of the material concerned from the plant to test for the presence of equine DNA and subsequently received the results. In this case the raw material was imported through a meat trader based inI reland.

Production has been suspended at Rangeland Foods pending the outcome of the investigation. The company has indicated that none of this product has entered the food chain. The investigation is focusing on the full supply chain including the meat trader concerned and others who facilitated the purchase of the product and its transfer to users in Ireland.

The Department is in continuing contact with the Polish authorities as the investigation has shown that all implicated raw material ingredient is labelled as Polish product. Arising from the latest findings, added to the facts uncovered in the investigation at Silvercrest and enquiries north of the border, Simon Coveney TD, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, has ordered the involvement of the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of the Department. He has also asked the Gardai to join the investigation team.