France has been hit by a new horsemeat scandal – this time involving the sale of horses intended for lab research and unfit for human consumption into the food supply chain.
Twenty-one people were arrested today during large-scale raids of meat traders and slaughterhouses across the south of France amid accusations they were involved in the illegal trafficking of hundreds of horses for meat.
According to French media reports, the horses were not fit for human consumption and should have been used only for laboratory research. The illicit meat was sold in butcher’s shops in the south of France and Spain, the reports suggest.
Unlike the horsemeat scandal earlier this year, this latest incident was not just a question of mislabelling but potentially of food safety, consumer affairs minister Benoît Hamon told French broadcaster RTL. However, the French government has stressed there is no evidence to date that the meat has harmed human health.
Horses not intended for the human food chain are sometimes treated with the veterinary drug phenylbutazone (also known as bute), which is not allowed in any quantity in meat for human consumption.
French media reports suggested some of the horses sold for food stemmed from laboratories belonging to pharmaceutical giant Sanofi Pasteur, which used them in the development of drugs.
A spokeswoman for Sanofi-Pasteur said the company condemned the fraud, of which it was a victim, and that it had assisted the police with their investigations. “Horses allow Sanofi-Pasteur to produce serums to save human lives using horse blood samples. These animals, which are taken great care of and overseen constantly by our team of vets, are identified with the aid of an electronic tag, which guarantees their traceability.
”The duration of their stay in our facilities is about three years, after which these animals - in good health - are sold on. Although not presenting a danger, as a precaution, Sanofi-Pasteur takes care to mention to buyers that these animals should not be used in the food chain.”
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