LONDON — A growing food-contamination scandal in Britain widened into a criminal investigation Friday, with consumers worried about finding horse meat in their burgers or lasagna.
What began as the discovery of traces of horse meat in uncooked burgers labeled as beef last month escalated this week with the announcement that thousands of packages of frozen beef lasagna were being pulled from supermarket shelves because they were potentially tainted as well.
Britain’s Food Standards Agency said the Findus company found at least 60 percent horse meat in 11 of 18 lasagna products that it tested; the meat in at least one of those was entirely horse.
There have been no reports of illness because of the contamination. The standards agency has demanded that the food industry conduct tests on all processed beef products, with the results to be submitted next week.
“The evidence we have about the two cases, of the significant amount of horse meat in burgers and lasagna, points to either gross negligence or deliberate contamination in the food chain. This is why we have already involved the police, both here and in Europe,” the agency said in a statement Friday.
In addition to Britain, horse meat has been detected in beef products sold in Ireland and Sweden.
Front Section, Pages 7 on 02/09/2013