Beef burgers sold in packets of 15 contained more chicken than beef, it emerged yesterday, as the Environmental Health Directorate recalled Bolognese sauce that may contain traces of un­declared horsemeat.

On Thursday, the directorate recalled beef burgers and tortellini because they contained un­declared pork and chicken.

It said Chef Choice beef burgers, weighing 1,500g, did not include chicken and pork in the ingredient list while Pastizzerija Galea frozen beef tortellini did not indicate pork.

Contacted yesterday about the percentage of undeclared meat, the directorate said it “would not be prudent to divulge such information at this stage but it could be confirmed that, in the case of the beef burgers, chicken constituted the major ingredient while, in the case of the beef, tortellini pork was a minor ingredient”.

It added the batches included about 700 packets of burgers and 140 packets of tortellini. One fifth of the burgers and all the tortellini packets had been sold.

Meanwhile, following infor­mation received through the EU’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed, the directorate said that Agnesi Sugo Bolognese, which might contain traces of undeclared horse meat, was being withdrawn.

The sauce comes in jars of 400g, which originate from Italy and expire in September 2015 (Lot: LM 257).

The company was instructed to withdraw the batch but some jars have already been purchased. The original consignment included 576 jars and 266 have already been withdrawn by the local trader.

Asked about the percentage of horsemeat, the directorate said this was not readily available because the product was not analysed by the directorate itself and the original alert was on a pasta product containing the sauce.

“Irrespective of the percentage, the presence of undeclared ingredient renders the product illegal,” a spokesman said.

Last month, the directorate recalled a consignment of lasagne from Italy because it could contain traces of horsemeat.

The discovery of undeclared horsemeat traces in beef products wreaked havoc in a number of countries, especially the UK.

In January, Irish food inspectors found horsemeat in frozen burgers stocked by UK supermarket chains including Lidl, Tesco and Iceland.

A few weeks later, pig DNA was found in halal products for Muslim prisoners.

The directorate said that, in collaboration with the Veterinary Regulatory Directorate, last month it embarked on a sampling programme in terms of European Commission Recommendation 2013/99/EU, issued in February, to establish the prevalence of fraudulent practices in the marketing of particular food.

The indicated parameters were for the presence of the veterinary drug phenylbutazone in horsemeat and equine DNA in beef products.

The authorities took samples of raw horsemeat, products containing beef, including cannelloni, lasagne, corned beef, beef burgers, steak and kidney pie and beef tortellini. Products were manufactured both in Malta and abroad.

The directorate said all samples tested negative for equine DNA and phenylbutazone.

However, irregularities were noted in the two products, which contained poultry and pork despite being labelled as containing beef.

The directorate specified that the lot number of the beef tortellini recalled because it contained undeclared pork was 02 13 and not 01 13.

Consumers can contact the Health Inspectorate Services between 8am and 2.30pm on 2133 7333, go to Continental Business Centre, Cutrico Buildings, Old Railway Track, Santa Venera or e-mail mhi@gov.mt.

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