Horse Meat Scandal Hits Taco Bell in the UK: IKEA Not the Only Fast Food Contaminated, Four New Beef Products Test Positive For Horse DNA

Horse meat is more popular than we previously thought. According to BBC News, the Food Standards Agency or FSA says that four beef products by Bird's Eye, Taco Bell, and Brakes have been found to contain horse meat or horse DNA.

The FSA has asked retailers to test their beef products for anything more than a 1% presence of horse meat. In the third wave of test results the following products have been contaminated: Birds Eye's Traditional Spaghetti Bolognese and Beef Lasagne, Brakes' Spicy Beef Skewer, and Taco Bell's Ground Beef. However Birds Eye reportedly has said they took their Bolognese and Beef Lasagne off the shelves last week as a precaution.

Taco Bell says that all its affected stock have been removed from its British outlets and the products had come from a retailer in Europe.  According to the BBC News report a spokesperson for Taco Bell said the following about the incident:

"Once we learned of this issue, we immediately voluntarily tested our product for our three Taco Bell restaurants in the UK.

"Based on that testing, we learned ingredients supplied to us from one supplier in Europe tested positive for  horse meat."

"We immediately withdrew it from sale, and discontinued purchase of that meat and contacted the Food Standards Agency with this information. We apologise to our customers and take this matter very seriously as food quality is our highest priority."

This news comes just weeks after it was revealed that horse meat was discovered in frozen burgers on sale in the UK and Republic of Ireland. IKEA withdrew a batch of frozen meatballs from its stores in the UK and throughout Europe after tests showed horse meat in those products.

Does this news make you hesitant to eat meat? Although these tests are taking place in Europe, it's worrying when you hear of a major chain like Taco Bell having horse meat in their products. When something like this happens there usually is more media attention than need for worry, but you always should be careful. The question is, where else will horse meat be found?