Danish slaughterhouse suspected of selling horse meat

COPENHAGEN - A slaughterhouse in Denmark's Jutland peninsula was suspected of selling horse meat labeled as beef, the country's food minister said Friday.

"We have had an eye on Danish slaughterhouses to see whether there could be a mix of beef and horse meat. We have checked various slaughterhouses and found one slaughterhouse, where we are not convinced that they have kept horse meat and beef separated," Mette Gjerskov, Danish Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries told Danish broadcaster DR News.

According to Gjerskov, the national food authorities have taken the meat samples from the suspected slaughterhouse for analysis and the customers of the slaughterhouse will also be examined. The results of the analysis are expected to come out next week.

"We take it very seriously when there could be risks that consumers have been cheated. I encourage that everyone in the food industry need to take a check with their suppliers," Gjerskov stressed.

Gjerskov said it was allowed to sell horsemeat in Denmark but the customers should be aware of what they were buying.

In an official statement released earlier this week, Gjerskov underlined that Danish food authorities would inspect supermarkets to ensure they have pulled the tainted products off shelves, and called for an overall examination of ready meals in supermarkets.

As the horse meat scandal grows across Europe, Danish consumers seem more ready to taste horsemeat. A new poll by DR News showed that 55 percent of Danes would like to eat horse meat with the right label. Only 25 percent of Danes completely rejected eating horse meat.

"Normally no customer asks about horse meat but now people come and want to taste it," said Jacob Bjerre, the owner of a meat shop in Copenhagen. He told the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten that there have been more than 10 customers who wanted to buy horse meat over the last two days.

The horse meat scandal broke in January when routine tests by Irish authorities discovered horsemeat in beef burgers made by firms in Ireland and Britain and sold in supermarket chains including Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer.