Minister Stanislaw Kalemba: photo - Polish Radio
“According to our research and inspections there is not the slightest bit of evidence that the horse meat came from Poland,” said Minister Kalemba on Thursday in an interview with Polish Radio.
His comments follow a meeting of seven agriculture ministers from EU countries that have become embroiled in the scandal, after traces of horse meat were detected in products of other European firms.
Karemba's Irish counterpart, Simon Coveney had claimed on 27 January that Poland was a source, following outrage in the UK that horse meat had ended up in Tesco value beefburgers produced by Silver Crest, an offshoot of Ireland's ABP Food Group.
Coveney told Ireland's RTE Radio that he was contacting Polish authorities “to find out how it happened and to make sure it does not happen again.”
But today, Kalemba argued that Coveney's accusations were “inadmissible,” given that no proof had been provided by the Irish Minister prior to his claims.
Kalemba added that when he had requested that Ireland send a sample of the meat in question, Coveney had declined to do so.
Poland's General Veterinary Inspectorate (GIW) has carried out tests over the last two weeks.
Samples from 14 slaughterhouses thought to be connected to the horse meat scandal in Ireland were tested at the National Veterinary Institute in Pulawy, central Poland, with no horse DNA being found.
Meanwhile, Swiss supermarket chain Coop is the latest to be embroiled in the scandal, after horse meat was found in its own-brand lasagne.
Coop had the same French supplier, Comigel, that was accused of corrupting lasagne sold in Britain last week. Comigel exports to fifteen countries.
Yesterday, British police raided a slaughterhouse in west Yorkshire, England, as well as a meat factory in Wales, amid allegations that horse meat was used for burgers and kebabs.
European Commissioner for Health Tonio Borg has called for tests on meat in all EU countries over a 30-day period, as a means of furthering the investigation and restoring consumer confidence. (nh)