Dutch eatery owner says he uses horse meat

• Tweet

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- The owner of a steakhouse in the Netherlands capital of Amsterdam said he's been selling horse fillets as beef for more than six decades.

After denying that his restaurant Piet de Leeuw sold horse meat as South American beef, owner Loek van Thiel said horse meat has been sold as beef since 1949 when his father, a horse butcher, bought it, DutchNews.nl reported.

Restaurant employees are under contract not to say anything about the use of horses, DutchNews.nl reported.

"I've never considered saying 'horse steak' on the menus," van Thiel said Friday. "People enjoyed their food, business was good, so why should I?"

The revelation came as Britain deals with a horse meat scandal involving grocery products and school meals, and the European Union saying it will begin testing for horse meat in food meant for human consumption in all 27 member nations.