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Asda withdraws sauce after test

Asda has has taken it 500g Beef Bolognese Sauce off the shelves after it tested positive for horse DNA. Three other products have also been removed as a precaution.

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Horsemeat containing bute 'very low health risk'

Chief Medical Officer Professor Dame Sally Davies said horsemeat that contains the drug bute presents "a very low risk" to human health.

Phenylbutazone, known as bute, is a commonly-used medicine in horses. It is also prescribed to some patients who suffer from a severe form of arthritis.

Professor Davies said:

At the levels of bute that have been found, a person would have to eat 500-600 100 percent horsemeat burgers a day to get close to consuming a human's daily dose.

And it passes through the system fairly quickly, so it is unlikely to build up in our bodies.

In patients who have been taking phenylbutazone as a medicine, there can be serious side-effects but these are rare. It is extremely unlikely that anyone who has eaten horsemeat containing bute will experience one of these side effects.

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