Based on official controls carried out in 2012 in various Member States, the European Commission was informed that some packaged food products contained horse meat that was not declared in the list of ingredients.

In addition to this and taking into consideration that phenylbutazone is a veterinary drug permitted only for use in animals not destined for food production, and that horses not destined for food production that have been treated at any time may not enter the food chain, the Commission established preventive control measures. These were intended to establish the possible entry into the food chain of horses not destined for human consumption that had been treated phenylbutazone. Through Recommendation 2013/99/EU, a coordinated control plan was defined to establish the prevalence of fraudulent practices in the marketing of certain foods.

Results of the study

The implementation of Recommendation 2013/99/EU in Spain led to an investigation carried out in March 2013, yielding the following results:

• Maximum number of samples to be taken by Spain, according to the Recommendation: 115 samples.
• Number of participating Autonomous Communities: 10 Autonomous Communities.
• Number of samples submitted by the Autonomous Communities to the National Food Centre (CNA): a total of 106 samples.
• Samples from other Administrations: 2 samples from Foreign Health.
• Total number of samples analysed by the CNA: 108 samples.
• Analysis findings: Compliant. Phenylbutazone residues were not detected in any of the samples analysed.