The latest round of beef testing has been completed and the results are in, of 2,622 samples tested within Europe, only 16 have come back positive for traces of horse meat.
The figure, in an ideal world, should be zero, but that should not over shadow the improvement that has been made. In 2013 4,144 beef samples were tested for horse meat and 193 tested positive.
Also in last years testing, Phenylbutazone, an anti-inflammatory painkiller that is used in horses but not approved for humans was found in 0.51% of samples tested. Although there was concern about this drug entering our food the risks have been played down as the amounts are so low. No tests were carried out this time due to the low level of positive results for the presence of horse meat.
Let’s hope some kind of testing becomes routine so as not to repeat this scandal.
The test results are available on the European Commission website.