The UK Food Standards Agency has announced that horses that have been treated with the drug phenylbutazone or bute are not allowed to enter the food chain.
The agency will conduct checks in slaughterhouses in order to ensure that horses presented for slaughter are suitable for human consumption, in a similar manner as it does for other animals such as sheep and cattle.
FSA will also carry out regular sampling and testing for phenylbutazone in meat from horses slaughtered in the UK.
In 2012, the agency identified five cases where horses returned non-compliant results and none of the meat had been placed for sale on the UK market.
Earlier this month, testing conducted by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) revealed that the horse meat samples did not contain phenylbutazone.
