More than a third of the products tested in Ireland contained horse DNA

Ten million beefburgers are being recalled in a British scandal over horse meat contamination, it emerged yesterday.

As revulsion over the issue grew, more supermarkets and fast food chain Burger King were drawn into the row.

Sainsbury's, Asda and the Co-op have decided to remove thousands of packs of frozen burgers as a precautionary measure.

The firms acted because the products were made by an Irish food giant which is known to have been supplying burgers contaminated with horse meat.

Separately, Burger King confirmed it gets burgers from the same company. However, it said there has been an 'absolute assurance' that these are not contaminated.

Food watchdogs in the UK and Ireland are racing to establish whether products made for other retailers, take-aways and restaurants are contaminated.

Last night the Government and the Food Standards Agency announced a UK wide survey into the authenticity of burgers and other processed meat products.

The revelations have been met with anger and disgust, while the companies involved face prosecutions for misleading shoppers.

Speaking at Prime Minister's Question Time, David Cameron, said: 'People in our country will have been very concerned to read this morning that when they thought they were buying beefburgers they were buying something with horse meat in it. This is a completely unacceptable state of affairs.'

He warned the stores involved, saying: 'Ultimately retailers have to be responsible for what it is they sell and where it comes from.'

The alert was first raised by Irish food watchdogs earlier this week after horse DNA was found in burgers sold through Tesco, Iceland, Aldi, Lidl and Dunnes in Ireland.

It subsequently emerged that burgers from the same batches were sold in the British outlets of both Tesco and Iceland. The beef content in one Everyday Value burger sold by Tesco was actually 29 percent horse meat.

The tests were carried out in November but the results were not released until they had been checked by experts in Germany. It is likely that many thousands of the burgers contaminated with horse meat have been eaten by families.

昨日有报道称，英国近日曝出的牛肉汉堡掺马肉丑闻事件，导致上千万牛肉汉堡被召回。

随着公众对此问题的反感情绪不断升级，有越来越多的超市卷入争端，汉堡王连锁快餐店也牵涉其中。

英国大型连锁超市Sainsbury’s、Asda 和Co-op已经决定采取防范措施，将数千包冷冻汉堡下架。

这三家公司之所以采取这一行动，是因为这些产品均来自于一家据称供应掺杂马肉的汉堡的爱尔兰食品巨头。

汉堡王也单独做出回应，证实从同一家公司购入汉堡。不过，汉堡王称该公司曾经向其保证过这批汉堡“绝对”未被掺假。

英国与爱尔兰的食品监督机构正争分夺秒地确认供给其他零售商、外卖店和饭店的产品是否受到污染。

昨晚，英国政府与英国食品标准局联合宣布，将就汉堡与其他加工肉制品的真实性展开一项全国范围的调查。

消息的播出引发了民众的愤怒与不满，而卷入事件中的企业将因误导顾客而面临指控。

大卫•卡梅伦在 “首相提问时间”接受质询时称：“民众在从今早新闻中获知他们购买的牛肉汉堡中掺杂了马肉后，将会一直担心受怕。这种事态是完全不可接受的。”

他警告相关商店说：“归根结底，零售商要对所售产品的质量及来源负责。”

本周早些时候，在从爱尔兰的乐购超市、冰岛超市、阿尔迪超市、里德尔超市及邓恩斯超市销售的汉堡中检测出马肉的DNA后，爱尔兰食品监督机构首次发出警报。

随后调查发现，同批次的汉堡在英国的乐购超市和冰岛超市中均有销售。在乐购超市销售的一只每日超值牛肉汉堡中，马肉的含量实际上达到总肉量的29%。

检测是在11月份进行的，不过直到德国专家核查后结果才对外公布。很有可能数千只掺杂了马肉的汉堡已被一些家庭吃掉。

Vocabulary:

revulsion: 厌恶；强烈反感