Bill Doult The government is clamping down on importers following the discovery of pork-contaminated chicken being sold as halal. Public health minister Melanie Johnson told the Commons formal action had been taken against five Dutch processors by the Dutch authorities. Meanwhile local authorities in the UK were also taking court action again importers and suppliers for mislabelling, and the FSA warned there would be further regular checks. The problems were discovered during tests by the FSA on suspected products destined for foodservice. Almost half had non-chicken DNA, including pork and beef, added to boost water content. Most of the product examined originated in the Netherlands, although some were from Belgium and a couple from the UK. The tests had been ordered by the FSA earlier this year to follow up the 2001 discoveries of hydrolysed proteins, targeting those companies and products previously identified. Products found to have been contaminated included: Marky - frozen breast fillets; Duke - single breast fillets; TL - double fillets; Aryt - single breast fillets; De Kippenhop - single large breast fillets. MR Brand Rood - single breast fillets; T Lelie - halal double chicken fillets; Rohim - breast fillets with added water; Jozef Hassan - single fillet with added water; Fraas - halal slaughtered single breast fillets. The EU has now agreed to improve rules on labelling meat products with added water but the FSA is pressing for a stricter limit on added water of no more than 15% plus a ban on the use of non-poultry proteins in this type of product. {{MARKET EDGE }}

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