The three-month programme of checks was agreed by the 27 EU member states in February after horsemeat had been found in a batch³ of Findus frozen lasagne.

 

National food inspectors⁴ were also asked to test horsemeat in the food chain for the banned anti-inflammatory horse drug phenylbutazone（苯基丁氮酮）, or "bute".

 

The UK has announced a "wide-ranging" strategic review of its food chain.

 

 

The tests were commissioned by the EU amid concerns about possible fraudulent（欺骗性的） attempts to sell horsemeat as processed beef in a number of member states.

 

The tests will not be conclusive⁵ - they may only amount to about 2,000 so far - but they will provide a snapshot of the scale of the problem and have already had an effect.

 

Last week the Dutch government announced that, as part of its investigations⁶, it had identified two processing plants that might have supplied horsemeat as beef since January 2011.

 

The UK's Food Standards Agency has conducted 150 tests for the commission, but separate to that there have been 6,000 tests carried out by the industry and local councils in the UK.

 

So far 24 have shown the presence of horsemeat in a range of food.

 

One product, Asda's Smart Price Corned Beef, contained a very low level of bute.

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