Denmark finds horsemeat in pizzas

Denmark's food authorities confirmed Sunday that they found a slaughterhouse on Peninsula Jutland illegally mix both horsemeat and pork in pizzas labelled as pure beef. The slaughterhouse, by the name of Haarby, was located in the city of Skanderborg in west Denmark, said the food authorities. "We have reported the slaughterhouse to the police, because they have misled their customers," Michael RosenMark with the Ministry for Food,Agriculture and Fisheries told reporters. The slaughterhouse has previously claimed that the restaurants who are customers of the slaughterhouse was informed the pizza mix contains both meat from horses and cattle. However it turns out to be a lie. The inspection report from the samples taken in Haarby Slaughterhouse on Feb. 13 stated that "private and business customers have ordered beef and received products consisting of mixed species, including ground beef mixed with horsemeat and pork." The Danish Food Standard Administration has kept a particular focus on mixed meat following the revealed scandal of horsemeat in beef lasagna and several other foods, which have involved some popular European and Danish supermarkets. "We have had an eye on Danish slaughterhouses to see whether there could be a mix of beef and horse meat. We have checked various slaughterhouses and found one slaughterhouse, where we are not convinced that they have kept horsemeat and beef separated," Mette Gjerskov, Danish Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, said on Feb. 15, when Haarby Slaughterhouse was found suspected of selling horse meat as beef. Horsemeat is not dangerous or unhealthy for humans. But in France, there were horsemeat that have been sold for human consumption containing the medicine phenylbutazone, which can be harmful to human health. The scandal came up to the surface in mid-January in Europe when Irish food inspectors detected horsemeat in frozen beef burgers made by firms in Ireland and Britain and sold in supermarket chains including Tesco, Britain's top retailer.