Swiss food company Nestlé is withdrawing beef pasta meals from shelves in Italy and Spain after tests found that the products contained traces of horse DNA.
The company noted that this decision has been made after its tests found traces of horse DNA in two beef products supplied by a German firm HJ Schypke, a subcontractor of Nestle supplier JBS Toledo. The levels of horse DNA were above 1%.
Nestlé will be suspending deliveries of all its finished products produced using beef supplied by HJ Schypke.
The products that are being withdrawn from Italy and Spain are Buitoni Beef Ravioli and Beef Tortellini. Nestlé is also withdrawing Lasagnes à la Bolognaise Gourmandes, a frozen meat product for catering businesses by Nestlé Professional produced in France. The company will be replacing these products with product made from 100% beef.
In a statement, Nestlé said that there is no food safety issue, but the mislabeling of products means they fail to meet the very high standards consumers expect from the company.
The company announced that it will enhancing its existing comprehensive quality assurance program by adding new tests on beef for horse DNA prior to production in Europe.
