Greencore shares plummet as horse meat found in sauce

Horse meat has reared its ugly head once again - this time in Greencore's beef bolognese sauce.

Shares tumbled 14.91% to 87.00p at 10:12 Friday as the Irish food producer confirmed its Chosen By You 350g Beef Bolognese was withdrawn from Asda supermarkets following the detection of horse DNA.

Three other Greencore products were taken off shelves "as a precautionary measure" but they did not test positive for horse meat. Items included the 600g Beef Broth Soup, 500g Meat Feast Pasta Sauce, and 400g Chilli Con Carne Soup.

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The bolognese sauce contributed circa £0.3m of £1.16bn turnover in Greencore's last financial year. The annualised revenue of all products withdrawn represents less than £1.0m.

"The company is currently awaiting the results of further quantitative tests on the 350g Beef Bolognaise Sauce that will validate the presence and the extent of the equine DNA," the group said in a statement.

Greencore said the meat for the sauce was supplied by the ABP Food Group's Nenagh plant in County Tipperary, Ireland, an approved and regularly audited producer.

The group is working with ABP to determine the full facts as they await the results of tests.

The incident is the latest in a string of scandals over horse meat found in beef products. Tesco, Lidl, Waitrose, Sainsburys, Iceland, Co-Op and Dunnes have also withdrawn some beef-based meals.

UK's Downing Street has criticised the reluctance of stores involved in selling the products to speak up about the affected goods. "It isn't acceptable for retailers to remain silent, sources from the government headquarters told the BBC.

The Food Standards Agency will reveal test results for horse meat in UK processed meals later Friday.

RD