4th February, 2013

ICSA president Gabriel Gilmartin has described revelations that substantial levels of horse DNA has been detected in a raw material ingredient at Rangeland Foods as “a deeply worrying development and has left farmers furious. It suggests that the Minister will now have to move quickly to investigate all meat processing plants.”

Mr Gilmartin also called on all processors who have any grounds for concern regarding suspect ingredients to immediately come forward. “We need to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible – the drip feeding of bad news is extremely damaging. Irish farmers have put so much effort into traceabilty at farm level and they are furious that this is undermined by unnecessary imports of meat product and shoddy standards further down the line.”