date:Mar 01, 2013
The country's Food Safety Agency said in a statement that it has withdrawn nearly 19,000 pre-packed beef products, such as lasagne, hamburgers and meatballs, from Portuguese stores over horsemeat contamination.
The agency made the seizures at companies which process, package and distribute meat to major retail outlets.
The Portuguese health and safety police (ASAE) has also launched five criminal proceedings after evaluation of 134 samples revealed that 13 of them were positive for horsemeat.