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| Horsemeat scandal: Bute found in eight horses | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Eight horses, killed in the UK, tested positive for the painkiller bute and six may have entered the food chain in France, the Food Standards Agency said. | |
| Some 206 carcasses were tested, with eight found to contain phenylbutazone. | |
| England's chief medical officer said the highest level detected was 1.9mg of bute per kg of horsemeat, which posed "very little risk to human health". | England's chief medical officer said the highest level detected was 1.9mg of bute per kg of horsemeat, which posed "very little risk to human health". |
| Earlier, food minister David Heath said tests for traces of bute in Findus products were negative. | |
| The horse carcasses were tested between 30 January and 7 February. Of the eight which tested positive for bute, six were exported to France for human consumption, and two were destroyed at the abattoir. | |
| The Prime Minister's spokesman told reporters that the UK was working very closely with the French authorities tracking the carcasses, which were identified on Thursday morning. | |
| During a briefing hosting by the Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra), chief medical officer Prof Dame Sally Davies said an individual would have to consume vast quantities of horsemeat containing bute to be at risk. | |
| She said: "A person would have to eat 500 - 600, 100% horsemeat burgers a day to get close to consuming a human's daily dose. [The drug] passes through the system fairly quickly, so it is unlikely to build up in our bodies." | |
| She added it was extremely unlikely that anyone who has eaten horsemeat containing bute would experience any side effects. | |
| Bute is sometimes used as a drug to treat individuals suffering from a severe form of arthritis. | |
| The FSA said they have implemented a positive release system across the UK, meaning horses slaughtered at British abattoirs must have tested negative for bute before they can enter the food chain. | |
| Responding earlier to an urgent question in the House of Commons, Mr Heath said that retailers and suppliers were "on course" to provide "meaningful results" on product testing on Friday. | |
| He confirmed that tests on Findus products had revealed no trace of bute. Findus withdrew its beef lasagne from sale after tests found it to contain up to 100% horsemeat. |