Private label supplier Greencore has confirmed the withdrawal of a beef bolognese sauce supplied to Asda. The UK supermarket chain removed the Chosen By You 350g beef bolognese sauce from sale after initial testing indicated the presence of equine DNA. Greencore said it was awaiting test results to quantify how much horse meat is in the product.
As a precautionary measure, Asda has also removed three other Greencore products, which it said does not contain horse meat. The products removed are 600g Beef Broth Soup, 500g Meat Feast Pasta Sauce and 400g Chilli Con Carne Soup.
Greencore said the meat used was supplied by an ABP Foods facility in Tipperary. This is the fourth ABP-owned site to make headlines in recent weeks with its Freshlink subsidiary in Scotland supplying frozen beef meatballs containg pork to Asda, and its Dalepack and Silvercrest operations involved in the horse meat scandal.
In a statement, ABP said it never knowingly bought or processed horse meat and that it has carried out hundreds of tests on fresh beef which have all tested negative for equine DNA to date.
Greencore's shares are currently down about 12 per cent since the news broke. (15 Feb)
© 2013 - ESM: European Supermarket Magazine by Sadhbh Connor
