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| Horsemeat scandal: Probe will be relentless, says FSA | Horsemeat scandal: Probe will be relentless, says FSA |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| The probe into allegations of horsemeat mislabelling will be "relentless", the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has said. | The probe into allegations of horsemeat mislabelling will be "relentless", the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has said. |
| It comes after a slaughterhouse in Todmorden, West Yorkshire and a meat firm near Aberystwyth were raided by FSA officials supported by police. | It comes after a slaughterhouse in Todmorden, West Yorkshire and a meat firm near Aberystwyth were raided by FSA officials supported by police. |
| FSA director of operations Andrew Rhodes told the BBC that the agency's investigations would continue until "there was nothing left to find". | FSA director of operations Andrew Rhodes told the BBC that the agency's investigations would continue until "there was nothing left to find". |
| The FSA suspended operations at both raided premises and seized paperwork. | The FSA suspended operations at both raided premises and seized paperwork. |
| 'Not complacent' | 'Not complacent' |
| Mr Rhodes said: "We're progressing very well through our investigations but they're not complete yet. So I'm not going to speculate on what else we might find. | Mr Rhodes said: "We're progressing very well through our investigations but they're not complete yet. So I'm not going to speculate on what else we might find. |
| "But of course, we don't really expect to find anything because if people are behaving according to the law and doing what they should be doing then there should be nothing to find. | "But of course, we don't really expect to find anything because if people are behaving according to the law and doing what they should be doing then there should be nothing to find. |
| "But that doesn't mean that we are in any way complacent. We've been very relentless in this. We'll continue following it through until there is nothing left to find." | "But that doesn't mean that we are in any way complacent. We've been very relentless in this. We'll continue following it through until there is nothing left to find." |
| He added: "There is a completely legitimate trade in horsemeat, and nobody wants to frustrate that, but there isn't a legitimate trade in substituting one meat for another." | He added: "There is a completely legitimate trade in horsemeat, and nobody wants to frustrate that, but there isn't a legitimate trade in substituting one meat for another." |
| Mr Rhodes said consumers had every right to expect a product to be exactly what it said on the label, but no evidence of a food safety risk had been found so far. | Mr Rhodes said consumers had every right to expect a product to be exactly what it said on the label, but no evidence of a food safety risk had been found so far. |
| The FSA ordered an audit of all horse-producing abattoirs in the UK after the horsemeat controversy emerged. | The FSA ordered an audit of all horse-producing abattoirs in the UK after the horsemeat controversy emerged. |
| The raided premises were Peter Boddy Licensed Slaughterhouse, in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, and Farmbox Meats Ltd, of Llandre near Aberystwyth. | The raided premises were Peter Boddy Licensed Slaughterhouse, in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, and Farmbox Meats Ltd, of Llandre near Aberystwyth. |
| The West Yorkshire plant was thought to have supplied horse carcasses to the Aberystwyth firm, which were then allegedly sold on as beef for kebabs and burgers. | The West Yorkshire plant was thought to have supplied horse carcasses to the Aberystwyth firm, which were then allegedly sold on as beef for kebabs and burgers. |
| Mr Boddy said he was co-operating with the FSA and officials were "welcome to visit" his premises whenever they wanted. | |
| Dafydd Raw Rees, of Farmbox Meats, said the firm was licensed to deal with horses and it had been cutting horsemeat, from the Irish Republic, for the last three weeks. | |
| "As far as I am concerned I know nothing about the plant in West Yorkshire. I have never knowingly processed horsemeat until three weeks ago," he said. | |
| "There is nothing we have done here which is not totally permissible." | |
| Meeting of ministers | Meeting of ministers |
| Meanwhile, shadow environment secretary Mary Creagh has said she would not buy mince of any kind at the moment. | Meanwhile, shadow environment secretary Mary Creagh has said she would not buy mince of any kind at the moment. |
| Asked if she had changed her eating habits, she told BBC 5 live: "Let's just say that I'm not very keen on mince at the moment, I think I know a bit too much now." | Asked if she had changed her eating habits, she told BBC 5 live: "Let's just say that I'm not very keen on mince at the moment, I think I know a bit too much now." |
| She said she would not buy mince in a ready meal or in a packet as a "precautionary principle". | She said she would not buy mince in a ready meal or in a packet as a "precautionary principle". |
| Environment Secretary Owen Paterson will travel to Brussels on Wednesday for a meeting of European countries linked to the horsemeat scandal. | Environment Secretary Owen Paterson will travel to Brussels on Wednesday for a meeting of European countries linked to the horsemeat scandal. |
| Ministers from the Irish Republic, France, Romania, Luxembourg, Sweden and Poland will attend. | Ministers from the Irish Republic, France, Romania, Luxembourg, Sweden and Poland will attend. |
| Mr Paterson has said it would be "totally unacceptable" if any UK business was "defrauding the public" by passing off horsemeat as beef. | |
| In a separate development, Waitrose's Essential British Frozen Beef Meatballs has become the latest product to be withdrawn from UK supermarket shelves after pork was detected in two batches. | In a separate development, Waitrose's Essential British Frozen Beef Meatballs has become the latest product to be withdrawn from UK supermarket shelves after pork was detected in two batches. |