France's agriculture ministry
said Saturday it had traced the remainder of the suspect Polish beef
imported into the country, adding that some of it had been sold to
consumers.
| Slabs of beef for sale at the meat department of a supermarket in Coutances, northwestern France |
"The remaining 145 kilos have been identified in lots prepared by wholesalers, butchers or restaurants," a statement said.
In total France imported 795 kg (1,750 pounds)
of the meat from a Polish slaughterhouse where allegedly sick cows were
butchered. Five hundred kilos were found and destroyed earlier and 150
kilos sold to consumers with the remaining 145 kilos unaccounted for
until Saturday.
A ministry official told AFP that some of the remaining 145 kilos had already been sold.
"What is complicated is that the 145 kilos were mixed with meat of other origin" by a wholesaler.
"At this stage a few dozen restuarants and butchers' shops are concerned mainly in the Paris region," a statement said.
French Agriculture Minister Didier Guillaume has
said nine French companies had been "duped" into importing beef from the
abattoir in Kalinowo, a village some 100 kilometres (60 miles)
northeast of Warsaw.
Poland's chief veterinarian Pawel Niemczuk has
confirmed that 2.7 tonnes of the suspect beef was exported to 13 EU
countries. But Polish authorities have said the meat does not pose a
health risk.
The slaughterhouse has been closed and a probe launched.