Coveney: Horse burger firm must back up claims
The Minister for Agriculture and Food has said that a food production company embroiled in the horse meat burger controversy needs to back up its claim that no imported ingredients were used in their products.
His comments come following a Sunday Times report today in which ABP Food Group claims to never bought or traded in horse meat.
On Thursday the Silvercrest plant in Monaghan, which is owned by ABP foods, suspended processing at its plant following test results which found the presence of horse meet in 10 samples of the 20 tested.
Test results are due from the second plant, Liffey Meats, this week.
Minister Coveney said the company needs to investigate how horse meat ended up in their burgers.
"Clearly either there was negligence somewhere, or else somebody was deliberately misleading somebody else," he said.
"That's what we are trying to get to the bottom of.
"But the idea that there is no imported product here involved in these burgers - certainly from the evidence I've seen… the company themselves have said that they have imported product."
