No horse DNA found in seven Jenny Craig diet dishes and two Gerber baby foods containing processed beef, company says
Nestlé, the world's biggest food company, which has withdrawn beef and pasta products in Italy, Spain and France because of traces of horsemeat, has said tests on nine processed beef products available in the UK found no equine contamination.
The results of Nestlé UK's tests on seven weight-loss diet products and two baby foods were released a day after its parent company became implicated in the pan-European scandal.
The lines tested were seven Jenny Craig dishes and two Gerber baby foods. Jenny Craig products are delivered directly to the homes of customers as part of a weight-loss programme costing nearly £250 a month. Among the seven dishes that contain processed beef are lasagne, chilli con carne and bolognese.
The company said in a statement: "We can confirm that Nestlé has tested samples of all of its processed beef products sold in the UK and Ireland, as prioritised by the FSA. These consist of seven Jenny Craig products and two Gerber baby food products. Today we have received the results of our internal tests which have confirmed no presence of horse DNA in any of these products."
The company added: "Nestlé UK is part of the industry reporting process and these results will be submitted via the Food and Drink Federation, our industry body, to the FSA in this week's reporting cycle. We will continue to test our products in accordance with the FSA's priorities and the results will be reported to the FSA."
The test results were not among the first batch submitted by retailers and manufacturers to the FSA last week. Earlier Nestlé UK said no supplies from a subcontractor implicated in products withdrawn in Europe were involved in UK products.
On Monday the company's head office in Switzerland said horsemeat levels found in two products sold in France and Spain were "above the 1% threshold the UK's Food Safety Agency uses to indicate likely adulteration or gross negligence". It had therefore "informed the authorities accordingly". The Buitoni products affected were tested between 11 and 17 February.
It announced it was suspending deliveries of all products using beef supplied by a German firm, HJ Schypke, a subcontractor of one of its suppliers, JBS Toledo, based in Belgium, which proudly boasts of the traceability of its raw materials.
Nestlé said that when reports first emerged in the UK about the "fraudulent mislabelling" of beef, it enhanced testing of products and the raw materials used across Europe. "Our tests have found traces of horse DNA in two products made from beef supplied by HJ Schypke. There is no food safety issue, but the mislabelling of products means they fail to meet the very high standards consumers expect from us," it said.
"Therefore we are voluntarily removing two chilled pasta products, Buitoni beef ravioli and beef tortellini, from sale in Italy and Spain immediately, and we will replace them with product confirmed by DNA testing to be made from 100% beef. Lasagnes à la bolognaise gourmandes, a frozen meat product for catering businesses by Nestlé Professional produced in France, will also be withdrawn from sale and replaced with product made from 100% beef."
The company added: "We are also enhancing our existing comprehensive quality assurance programme by adding new tests on beef for horse DNA prior to production in Europe. Assuring the quality and safety of our products has always been a top priority for Nestlé. We want to apologise to consumers and reassure them that the actions being taken to deal with this issue will result in higher standards and enhanced traceability."
JBS Toledo is part of a Brazilian company, JBS, which said it had suspended all its contracts with its German supplier and would cease marketing European meat until confidence was restored in the European beef supply chain.
Jeremiah O'Callaghan, its investor relations director in São Paulo, said: "In this specific case, from the outset of supply, all operational and logistical processes were carried out by the German supplier who delivered the product to the final client." No case of co-mingling of species had been identified in products produced in or at JBS factories, he said. Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 hours ago.
Nestlé, the world's biggest food company, which has withdrawn beef and pasta products in Italy, Spain and France because of traces of horsemeat, has said tests on nine processed beef products available in the UK found no equine contamination.
The results of Nestlé UK's tests on seven weight-loss diet products and two baby foods were released a day after its parent company became implicated in the pan-European scandal.
The lines tested were seven Jenny Craig dishes and two Gerber baby foods. Jenny Craig products are delivered directly to the homes of customers as part of a weight-loss programme costing nearly £250 a month. Among the seven dishes that contain processed beef are lasagne, chilli con carne and bolognese.
The company said in a statement: "We can confirm that Nestlé has tested samples of all of its processed beef products sold in the UK and Ireland, as prioritised by the FSA. These consist of seven Jenny Craig products and two Gerber baby food products. Today we have received the results of our internal tests which have confirmed no presence of horse DNA in any of these products."
The company added: "Nestlé UK is part of the industry reporting process and these results will be submitted via the Food and Drink Federation, our industry body, to the FSA in this week's reporting cycle. We will continue to test our products in accordance with the FSA's priorities and the results will be reported to the FSA."
The test results were not among the first batch submitted by retailers and manufacturers to the FSA last week. Earlier Nestlé UK said no supplies from a subcontractor implicated in products withdrawn in Europe were involved in UK products.
On Monday the company's head office in Switzerland said horsemeat levels found in two products sold in France and Spain were "above the 1% threshold the UK's Food Safety Agency uses to indicate likely adulteration or gross negligence". It had therefore "informed the authorities accordingly". The Buitoni products affected were tested between 11 and 17 February.
It announced it was suspending deliveries of all products using beef supplied by a German firm, HJ Schypke, a subcontractor of one of its suppliers, JBS Toledo, based in Belgium, which proudly boasts of the traceability of its raw materials.
Nestlé said that when reports first emerged in the UK about the "fraudulent mislabelling" of beef, it enhanced testing of products and the raw materials used across Europe. "Our tests have found traces of horse DNA in two products made from beef supplied by HJ Schypke. There is no food safety issue, but the mislabelling of products means they fail to meet the very high standards consumers expect from us," it said.
"Therefore we are voluntarily removing two chilled pasta products, Buitoni beef ravioli and beef tortellini, from sale in Italy and Spain immediately, and we will replace them with product confirmed by DNA testing to be made from 100% beef. Lasagnes à la bolognaise gourmandes, a frozen meat product for catering businesses by Nestlé Professional produced in France, will also be withdrawn from sale and replaced with product made from 100% beef."
The company added: "We are also enhancing our existing comprehensive quality assurance programme by adding new tests on beef for horse DNA prior to production in Europe. Assuring the quality and safety of our products has always been a top priority for Nestlé. We want to apologise to consumers and reassure them that the actions being taken to deal with this issue will result in higher standards and enhanced traceability."
JBS Toledo is part of a Brazilian company, JBS, which said it had suspended all its contracts with its German supplier and would cease marketing European meat until confidence was restored in the European beef supply chain.
Jeremiah O'Callaghan, its investor relations director in São Paulo, said: "In this specific case, from the outset of supply, all operational and logistical processes were carried out by the German supplier who delivered the product to the final client." No case of co-mingling of species had been identified in products produced in or at JBS factories, he said. Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 hours ago.