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Disease warning issued over horsemeat burgers

Burgers containing horsemeat could have been made from "diseased or injured animals", environmental health experts have warned.

The head of the Society of Chief Officers of Environmental Health in Scotland said because burgers had bypassed official inspection "there is no way of telling whether the meat is safe".

We note that statements are being made that it is not a health issue, but our concern is that there is no information on how the horsemeat came to be in the burgers.

If it hasn't come through the official inspection system, then there is no confidence that it is completely harmless.

– John Sleith, chairman of the SOCOEHS

Mr Sleith added that the scandal was an example of a growing problem of "food fraud".