Russia is likely to impose a temporary ban on meat imports from European Union (EU) nations if it does not receive additional guarantees that meat products sold to the country will not contain horsemeat.
Russia's chief sanitary official Gennady Onishchenko was quoted by Ekho Moskvy as saying that a letter has been to the European Commission requesting a guarantee that the meat shipments are free from horsemeat contamination and noted that Russia would have to suspend imports of meat products from EU if it fails to issue such guarantees.
Russia has asked the consumers to choose locally produced meat products to ensure that they do not contain horsemeat.
Meanwhile, horsemeat has been found in food products labeled as beef in Bulgaria, Portugal and Spain.
The officials in Bulgaria stated that DNA tests have shown that imported frozen dishes contained s high as 80% horsemeat. Spain's Canary Islands officials said that they have impounded a ton of hamburger patties containing horsemeat ranging from 5% to 40% per patty.
In Portugal, the authorities seized 12,410 packs of frozen lasagna containing horsemeat.
