Tesco axes supplier over ‘horsemeat’ burgers

Meat in Tesco burgers found to contain horse DNA did not come from a list of approved suppliers, the supermarket said today.

The meat also came from outside the UK or Ireland — contrary to company policy. The supermarket said it has dropped frozen burger supplier Silvercrest following what it termed a “breach of trust”.

It has vowed to introduce a DNA testing system on meat products to “ensure the quality” of the food it sells in the wake of the scandal.

“We now understand, with as much certainty as possible, what happened,” said the firm. “The evidence tells us that Silvercrest used meat in our products that did not come from the list of approved suppliers we gave them.

“Nor was the meat from the UK or Ireland, despite our instruction that only beef from there should be used in our frozen beefburgers.”

Paul Finnerty, CEO of ABP Food Group, parent company of Silvercrest, said: "We have learnt important lessons from this incident and we are determined to ensure that this never happens again”.