Tesco has confirmed it won't be using frozen burgers from the Silvercrest factory in County Monaghan anymore, ending a contract worth €15 million a year.
The company has issued a strongly worded statement, in the wake of the horsemeat scandal saying the “breach of trust” was too great.
A geling agent important from Poland was found to be the source of the contamination.
The product is beef filler made up of fat cuts and trims which had been supplied to Silvercrest in Monaghan for the past year.
The company added it will continue to buy products worth over €100 million from other ABP companies.
The Tesco group has also announced its to introduce a comprehensive system of DNA testing across its meat products.
Tesco says it had instructed that meat should only come from Ireland and the UK, and says it decision to ditch Silvercrest burgers is based on a serious breach in trust.
Meanwhile, the Spanish food consumer watchdog OCU established traces of the horse DNA in two supermarkets, Eroski and AhorraMas SA.
Three quarters of the stores products did not meet quality standards and breached acceptable levels of salt, fat and additives set by food health and safety experts.
OCU’s report stated, "Results clearly show that consumers are being deceived because burgers sold have labels that don't indicate the real ingredients."
