The animal painkilling drug bute has been found in Asda Smart Price Corned Beef in the UK.

The supermarket chain is recalling all 340g tins of 'smart price' corned beef after low levels of the drug were found in some batches of the product.

It's the first time bute had been found in a meat product since the horsemeat scandal started.

Bute is the short name for phenylbutazone, an anti-inflammatory drug commonly used for treating horses.

Animals treated with bute are not allowed to enter the food chain because it could pose a risk to human health.

This evening the British Food Standards Agency said "very low levels" of the drug had been detected in the Asda Smart Price Corned Beef product.

When tested the product was found to contain more than one per cent horsemeat - further tests revealed that it contained four parts per billion of bute

Though fears have been raised that bute may have entered the food chain, this is the first time a product intended for human consumption has tested positive for the drug- which is typically used to treat race horses.

Meanwhile criminal investigations are continuing across the EU on how horsemeat ended up in products labelled as beef in European supermarkets.

The problem first came to light when the Irish Food Safety Authority reported finding equine DNA in beef burgers on January 15th last.