ABP shutters Silvercrest site involved in horse meat scandal

ABP Food Group has temporarily closed its Silvercrest Plant in Ireland in response to the ongoing investigation into horse meat found in frozen beef burgers.

ABP said the plant will be closed for several days to complete sanitation processes and this week’s production has not been released.

The firm also confirmed it had established the source of the contaminated material to one of two suppliers in The Netherlands or Spain.

Meanwhile, Leatherhead Food Research has announced it has extended their meat speciation testing to include horse, while RSSL said it can detect DNA in meat samples that are specific to a particular species.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) published a survey this week, finding horse DNA in some frozen beef burger products, including one item from Tesco containing 29%.