FSA lifts ban on Welsh horsemeat cutting plant
A Welsh meat plant at the centre of allegations over the mislabelling of horsemeat has been allowed to resume trading.
The Food Standards Agency imposed a temporary ban on Farmbox Meats, Llandre, Aberystwyth, on 12 February as part of an ongoing investigation into the mislabelling of meat products.
At the time reports suggested that the Aberystwyth plant was handling horsemeat that was then allegedly sold on for kebabs and burgers. But the company’s owner Dafydd Raw-Rees strenuously denied any allegations of wrongdoing.
Mr Raw Rees said he was fully licensed to process horsemeat at his plant and that horse carcasses were imported from Ireland to be processed and packed before shipping on to Belgium.
The FSA has now decided the cutting plant will be allowed to operate under conditional approval.
“This conditional approval expires on 5 April 2013 and a decision will be taken as to whether the plant should be granted full approval to operate,” a spokesman for the FSA said.
“The FSA has required the establishment to provide guarantees before allowing it to operate again and has also informed the business that it will not hesitate to withdraw its approval if there is sufficient evidence that there is non-compliance with all requirements placed on food business operators,” the spokesman added.
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