EC says horse meat scandal is 'food fraud'

BRUSSELS, April 17 (UPI) -- The European Commission said it will attempt to install stricter food fraud controls after a study found that nearly 5 percent of meat contained horse DNA.

"Today's findings have confirmed that this is a matter of food fraud and not of food safety. Restoring the trust and confidence of European consumers and trading partners in our food chain following this fraudulent labeling scandal is now of vital importance for the European economy," Commissioner for Health and Consumers Tonio Borg said Tuesday.

The study included 7,259 tests in 27 European countries, the release said.

Of those, 4,144 samples were tested for horse DNA, and 193 of the samples tested positive.

The remaining samples were tested for phenylbutazone, a painkiller banned for human consumption, but the amount of drug found was insignificant.

The commission said it plans to review the European Union food-chain legislation and propose additional controls to sanction food fraudsters.

The announcement came the same day a Netherlands court declared a meat dealer bankrupt.

Willy Selten is at the heart of the horse meat scandal, DutchNews.nl said, and food inspectors shut down his company in February on the suspicion he was mixing beef with horse.