A TYPE of frozen beef lasagne sold in the Czech Republic, but made in Luxembourg, in which horse meat was found, has been withdrawn from sale in Slovakia. The Bidvest Slovakia company decided on February 20 to withdraw the product, Lasagne Bolognese Nowaco (400g), based on reports from the Czech Republic, the TASR newswire reported.
The Czech food inspectorate found the lasagne containing horse meat instead of beef in a Tesco supermarket in Plzeň, in the western Czech Republic, the SITA newswire reported.
The inspectors noted that horse meat is not dangerous for humans, but “people cannot be deceived about what they eat”, SITA wrote.
The European horse-meat scandal erupted in mid January. The first countries to find suspicious products were the UK and Ireland, where horse meat was found in frozen beefburgers.
“The reason for the withdrawal is a discrepancy in the consistency of the product, not any health risk,” the company’s sales director, Peter Kadáš, said, as quoted by TASR.
The affected products are those with a best before date of October 18, 2013 and February 24, 2014.
The lasagnes were imported to Slovakia before the horse-meat scandal emerged, during 2012 and in January 2013, Kadáš said.
The product is made by a company in Luxembourg which is one of the biggest producers of ready meals and which holds all the relevant international certificates and works under the supervision of veterinary and food inspection authorities.
