British police and regulators raided a slaughterhouse and a meat processor on Tuesday (February 12) suspected of selling horsemeat as beef, expanding a Europe-wide scandal that has shocked consumers and exposed flawed food safety controls. The raids on companies were the first by officials investigating horsemeat supplies in a country where the issue has angered consumers and led to several big retailers pulling contaminated products from their shelves. While it is not illegal to sell horsemeat in Britain, eating it is virtually taboo. The British government said anyone found to have fraudulently sold horsemeat should be prosecuted. “It is absolutely shocking that we actually have found this practice happening in the UK – this is the first incident. We will be following it up with the full rigour of investigative powers invested in the Food Standards Agency,” Environment Secretary, Owen Paterson, said. The Food Standards Agency, the British regulator, said it had suspended operations at an abattoir in northern England and a meat processing company in Wales while it investigates whether they were involved in horsemeat being missold as beef for kebabs and burgers. “Well what we’ve found in our investigations is horsemeat produced in a slaughter house in Yorkshire being shipped to a food business near Aberiswhith in West Wales and that being used in a product which meant to be beef and not horse. Clearly that’s unacceptable and we’ve seized all of the products in that …
