After two weeks of staunch denials, Burger King has admitted that its beef burgers and Whoppers contain horsemeat. The Daily Mail reported on Jan. 31 that the fast food chain with more than 500 outlets throughout the UK may have been involved in a cover up.
Burger King had released a series of “absolute assurances” that its burgers were not involved but new tests have proved the claim false. The burgers containing horsemeat were manufactured by an Irish-based company, Silvercrest, part of the APB Foods Group. Silvercrest also supplies contaminated burgers for Tesco, Asda and the Co-op. Both Asda and Co-op have admitted that DNA tests confirm horsemeat in their products as well.
Some have alleged that Burger King tried to cover up the scandal until a new supplier could be found. Supplies are currently being shipped in from Germany and Italy to meet the demand throughout the UK.
Silvercrest has been using unapproved ingredients which include meat cu-offs and horsemeat which arrived in large, frozen blocks from Poland. It is known that the tainted meat has been in use since at least May and for maybe as long as one year.
In a reversal of their earlier claims, Burger King released the following statement:
“Four samples recently taken from the Silvercrest plant have shown the presence of very small trace levels of equine DNA. Within the last 36 hours, we have established that Silvercrest used a small percentage of beef imported from a non-approved supplier in Poland. They promised to deliver 100per cent British & Irish beef patties and have not done so. This is a clear violation of our specifications, and we have terminated our relationship with them. Through our investigation, we have confirmed that this non-approved Polish supplier is the same company identified by the Irish Department of Agriculture as the source of Silvercrest’s contamination issue. We are deeply troubled by the findings of our investigation and apologise to our guests, who trust us to source only the highest quality 100per cent beef burgers.” - Burger King vice president, Diego Beamonte.
In other fast food news:
- Applebee's waitress fired for posting receipt from pastor who stiffed her
- When size does matter: Subway chain responds to ‘footlong’ claims
- Robbers tunnel into a KFC expecting to find a jewelry store, not chicken
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