STORMONT’S Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill said yesterday she had no reason to believe that there were any horse meat problems with processors in Northern Ireland.
Ms O’Neill said she was concerned by findings of horse meat of up to 29 per cent in some supermarket burgers in the Republic.
She said: “I support the efforts of the FSAI and the Food Standards Agency to identify how equine DNA product has been incorporated in these products.
“However, I have no reason to believe that this is other than an isolated instance or that there are issues with beef processing in the north.
“I understand associated products have been withdrawn from supermarket shelves in the north.”
The minister added: “We have an excellent beef processing industry, which meets the highest standards of hygiene, traceability and quality.”
Ulster Farmers’ Union president Harry Sinclair said they were “very concerned” by the developments.
He said: “Our farming industry strives to produce the highest standard of fresh quality assured beef for consumers, which is fully traceable.
“We are not in a position to comment on the specifics of this particular case as investigations are ongoing but we will be working closely with the Food Standards Agency,” said Mr Sinclair.
“However, we are thankful that it is not a public health issue and does not pose any food safety risk to consumers.
“This situation really highlights the importance of supporting local farm quality assured beef with the traceability and quality that consumers expect.
“However it does raise serious questions about the pressure Tesco and other large retailers place on their suppliers to deliver in terms of price rather than other important factors such as quality and traceability which could lead to this type of thing happening.”
The UFU was to meet the Northern Ireland Food Standards Agency yesterday to discuss the issues.
TUV leader Jim Allister said he is tabling questions to the Minister of Agriculture asking if it has detected horse meat, how robust the horse passport system is and what changes it plans to make in the light of the developments.
UUP agriculture spokes- woman Jo-Anne Dobson MLA said she has written to the minister asking for “an immediate update on the situation”.
Green Party health spokeswoman Clare Bailey said: “This incident should encourage consumers to support our local producers by shopping locally and to reject the cheaper and what often seems like the easier option.”