The revelation has sparked concern among Russian consumers, with a large number of people contacting Rosselkhoznadzor regarding the products’ safety. As a result, the department has been forced to issue an official statement.
“After receiving numerous enquiries about the possible danger of eating three types of domestic sausages, which have been found to contain horse DNA, Rosselkhoznadzor wishes to clarify that, in the studied samples, no other contaminants or bacterial agents that could pose a threat to life or health of the consumer were identified,” said the statement.
“The violation is that horsemeat was not listed on the label of ingredients of these products, but in general they were completely safe for human health.”
However, experts have warned that Russian consumers have lost confidence in domestic meat products. Alisher Zakhidov, a lawyer for the public organisation Social Control, insisted that even if the horsemeat found in the sausages was harmless, its concealment was a gross violation of consumers’ rights.
“It is terrible that horsemeat used in meat products is out of control today. Tomorrow it may be not horsemeat, but cats, dogs, rats, mice or something else,” he commented in response to the Rosselkhoznadzor statement.
Rosselkhoznadzor recently published the results from its recent monitoring of meat imports, which revealed that only a few companies outside the country had been found to be supplying Russia with products containing horsemeat.
“Horsemeat was found in meat products exported to Russia from Spain, France and Germany and from only three or four foreign companies that supply meat to Russia,” said Rosselkhoznadzor spokesperson Alexei Alexeenko.
The organisation added that, at present, the risk of finding horsemeat in meat products on the Russian market was minimal, and would soon be completely eliminated.