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Nestlé Removes 2 Products in Horse Meat Scandal Nestlé Removes 2 Products in Horse Meat Scandal
(about 4 hours later)
LONDON — The scandal over beef products adulterated with horse meat escalated across the Continent on Tuesday after Nestlé, one of the world’s best-known food companies, said it was removing pasta meals from store shelves in Italy and Spain. LONDON — First centered on Britain and Ireland, the scandal over beef products adulterated with horse meat escalated across Continental Europe on Tuesday after Nestlé, one of the world’s best-known food companies, said it was removing pasta meals from store shelves in Italy and Spain.
Nestlé said late Monday that it would remove two chilled pasta products, Buitoni Beef Ravioli and Beef Tortellini, from Italian and Spanish supermarket shelves immediately. Meanwhile, Lasagnes à la Bolognaise Gourmandes, a frozen product made for the catering trade in France, will also be withdrawn and replaced with a product containing meat made from 100 percent beef. Nestlé, which is based in Switzerland, said it had increased testing after the discoveries of horse meat in British foods and “traces” of horse DNA in two products made with beef supplied by a German company, H. J. Schypke.
The company added that it had increased testing after the discovery of horse meat in British foods and “traces” of horse DNA in two products made with beef supplied by a German company,  H. J. Schypke.The levels exceeded the threshold used by the British Food Standards Agency in testing to indicate that a substance had been adulterated, so the products would be withdrawn from the market, Nestlé said. The involvement of Nestlé is a significant act in a fast-moving situation that is forcing Europeans to question the contents of their meals.
‘‘There is no food safety issue, but the mislabeling of products means they fail to meet the very high standards consumers expect from us,’’ Nestlé added. Before the announcement, the horse meat crisis had already spread, with perhaps a dozen countries caught up in product recalls.
The involvement of Nestlé, based in Switzerland, is another significant act in a fast-moving drama that is prompting Europeans to question the contents of their meals. Nestlé said it was confident that products in the American market were unaffected.
Nestlé knows only too well the importance of image, having once been the object of a boycott after being embroiled in a controversy over the marketing of baby milk in developing countries. “Nestlé U.S.A. does not use meat sourced from Europe,” a company statement said. “Additionally, U.S.D.A. meat inspectors are in all processing plants and also have responsibility to oversee any imported meat. We have also requested and received confirmation from all our meat suppliers that they do not provide Nestlé U.S.A. with any meat from the affected countries and companies.”
In a statement, the company said that it did not use any meat from Europe for its food sold in the United States. “We have also requested and received confirmation from all our meat suppliers that they do not provide Nestlé USA with any meat from the affected countries and companies,” the company said. The United States does not import beef from any of the countries where the contaminated meat was found, according to the Agriculture Department. Nestlé U.S.A. uses beef from the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, the company said.
Although the horse meat crisis has been seen mainly as an issue of fraud and mislabeling, it emerged last week that a powerful equine painkiller, phenylbutazone, or bute, may have entered the food chain. Eight horses slaughtered for food in Britain tested positive for the drug. Six of those carcasses had already been exported to France for use in human food. Two refrigerated Nestlé pasta products, Buitoni Beef Ravioli and Beef Tortellini, are being taken off supermarket shelves in Italy and Spain immediately. In addition, Lasagnes à la Bolognaise Gourmandes, a frozen meat product made for caterers in France, will also be withdrawn and replaced with product made from 100 percent beef. None of those products are imported from Europe into the United States, Nestlé said.
In Britain, food manufacturers have embarked on a widespread program of tests to try to stem a crisis of confidence in products originating in a long and bewilderingly complex supply chain. The levels of horse DNA in the products were above the 1 percent threshold used by the British Food Standards Agency as an indicator of adulteration in testing being done by Britain’s food industry and therefore the products would be withdrawn, Nestlé said in a statement.
Last Friday, the British Food Standards Agency released the results of 2,501 tests conducted on beef products by the British food industry, of which 29 contained more than 1 percent horse meat, its threshold for adulteration.But, just as that information was released, it emerged that food intended for school meals had also contained horse meat, and a blame game erupted over who was responsible. “There is no food safety issue, but the mislabeling of products means they fail to meet the very high standards consumers expect from us,” Nestlé added.
On Tuesday, the British Food Standards Agency announced a big expansion of its own testing program, conducted by local authority food inspectors, so that a total of 514 products would be sampled. These will now include some canned products and items like gelatine, beef dripping and stock cubes, the agency said in a statement. Nestlé knows well the importance of its brand image, having once been the object of a boycott after being involved in a controversy over the marketing of baby milk in developing countries.
The European Union has also announced an increase in food testing, and there have been growing calls for more regulation from Brussels. Although the current horse meat crisis has been considered mainly an issue of fraud and mislabeling, evidence emerged last week that a powerful equine painkiller, phenylbutazone — or bute — may have entered the food chain.
Though tough traceability rules for fresh beef products were introduced after the crisis over mad cow disease more than a decade ago, a similar regime is not in place for processed food. Eight horses slaughtered for food in Britain tested positive for the drug. Six of those carcasses had already been exported to France for use in human food.
‘‘What has been discovered in recent days is large-scale fraud,’’ said Richard Seeber, the coordinator for the center-right group in the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee of the European Parliament. ‘‘This is a clear breach of current European food labeling rules. This is why the first thing we need is more controls and better enforcement of the existing rules.’’ In Britain, food manufacturers have embarked on a huge program of food tests to try to stem a crisis of confidence in products originating in a bewilderingly complex supply chain.
Glenis Willmott, the leader of the British Labour Party’s delegation to the European Parliament, said the response of the bloc’s executive, the European Commission, had been inadequate.‘‘The horse meat scandal should result in a Europe-wide comprehensive legislation on ‘origin labeling’ for all meat in processed foods, and a better E.U. enforcement procedure,’’  Ms. Willmott said. Last Friday, the British Food Standards Agency released the results of 2,501 tests conducted on beef products by the British food industry, of which 29 contained more than 1 percent horse meat.
But just as that information was released, it emerged separately that food intended for school meals had also contained horse meat. Finger-pointing has erupted between politicians and supermarkets over responsibility.
The European Union has also announced an increase in food testing, although there are growing calls for more regulation at a European level. Though tough traceability rules for fresh beef products were introduced after the crisis over mad cow disease more than a decade ago, a similar regime is not in place for processed food.
“What has been discovered in recent days is large-scale fraud,” said Richard Seeber, the coordinator for the center-right group in the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee of the European Parliament. “This is a clear breach of current European food labeling rules. This is why the first thing we need is more controls and better enforcement of the existing rules.”
Glenis Willmott, the leader of the British Labour Party’s members of the European Parliament, said that the response of the European Union’s executive body, the European Commission, had been inadequate.
“The horse meat scandal should result in a Europe-wide comprehensive legislation on ‘origin labeling’ for all meat in processed foods, and a better E.U. enforcement procedure,” Ms. Willmott said.
There are no horse slaughterhouses operating in the United States, and no horse meat is imported for human consumption, making the chances that Americans are unintentionally eating horse meat fairly remote, a U.S.D.A. spokesman said.

Katie Thomas contributed reporting from New York.

Katie Thomas contributed reporting from New York.