France found more cases of horsemeat in beef products than any other EU member state, results of DNA tests ordered by the European Commission are expected to show.
Of the 353 tests carried out in France, 47 tested positive for horse DNA, or more than one in eight samples.
Greece had the second-highest level of positive results with 288 tests giving 36 positive results. Germany found horse DNA in 29 samples out of 878. The findings from the European Commission were due to be released this morning but have been delayed.
However, an EU source said it was understood that the 50 tests conducted in this State found no traces of horse DNA. One of the 840 samples of horse meat tested positive for bute, a veterinary product administered to horses and banned from the food chain because it can pose a health risk if taken in large doses.
The European Commission ordered the EU-wide testing regime in February and requested member states to take some 2,250 samples of beef products and test them for the presence of horse meat. It also asked that samples of horse meat be tested for possible residues of bute.
Some 150 tests carried out in Britain returned no positive results for horse meat in beef products but 14 of the 836 horse meat samples tested positive for bute.
