Horse DNA found in Nestle products

By LUIS MIRANDA | THE REAL AGENDA | FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Nestle has recalled six products made from beef provider Servocar after detecting that one of them, the microwave cannelloni The Cook, had traces of horse DNA on a percentage of 1 percent above the threshold that determines whether it is adulterated.

The discovery was made in meat containing products supplied by the company Servocar, located in Casarrubios del Monte (Toledo), which had certified that its products were 100 percent beef. Nestlé has decided to stop buying from Servocar and will act legally to demand responsibilities. The food contamination was found in Spain, where the supplier is responsible for providing beef products to Nestle’s line of industrialized food.

After the analyzes were completed, Nestle apparently withdrew the brand products from beef provider Servocar. Besides the microwave The Cook cannelloni, the company also recalled the fusilli Bolognese Buitoni, the meat Galician empanada, The Cook meat filling, eggplant gratin and The Cook meat pies.

Nestle assured the public that the traces of horse DNA had been detected only in the cannelloni, but that it had decided to recall all products made with meat supplied by Servocar.

“This does not pose a risk to the health of our consumers, but the error resulting in the labeling turns the products as non-compliers with what consumers expect from us,” said the company, which added that “soon” these products will be replaced with new ones made of 100 percent cattle beef that have passed DNA analysis.

The CEO of Nestlé in Spain, Bernard Meunier, said that this is a problem that affects the entire food industry. He qualified it as a “European-wide fraud” while describing the situation as “unacceptable”.

“I apologize to consumers and would reaffirm the will to be vigilant. We’re going to continue to make all DNA testing necessary to rule out any other contamination, so that we can avoid the same problem,” he assured.

In this regard, he stressed that since the company is improving quality control, its standards will “avoid something similar from happening again in the future.” “The quality and safety of our products is and will remain the number one priority for Nestlé,” he finished.

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