A Letter to Our Customers
First and foremost, I wanted to again say that I am truly sorry that horsemeat was found in our beef lasagne. This should not have happened and we are taking action to make sure this will never happen again.
I also wanted to reassure you that earlier this month we DNA tested all Findus UK products and I want to reconfirm that no horsemeat has been found in any of our other ready meals.
When horsemeat was found elsewhere in beef burgers, we took immediate action. Through our own pro-active DNA testing we found horsemeat in our beef lasagne, which came as a real shock to us. We acted quickly and undertook a full withdrawal of the affected product from sale and a consumer recall in early February.
At Findus UK, we are committed to sourcing our products from reputable food processors. Unfortunately, we appear to have been the victim of fraud by one of the meat suppliers in our supply chain. We are working with the Food Standards Agency in the UK and the regulatory authorities in Europe in every way we can.
While we have always had a very rigorous quality control programme in place, we are adding more extensive DNA testing to be able to guarantee both the quality and authenticity of our products in the future.
We take this issue very seriously and pledge to work alongside manufacturers, retailers and regulators to ensure the integrity of Britain’s food.
I hope that this reassures you how seriously we take this matter.
Please do not hesitate to contact our Consumer Care Line if you have any concerns on our UK Freephone number 0800 132584 (or if you are calling from the Republic of Ireland 01800 800500). Alternatively you can email careline@findus.co.uk.
Yours sincerely,
Leendert den Hollander
Chief Executive UK
For any further press queries please contact the Findus Press Office on 0207 300 6276.
