UK food agency raids abattoir in horsemeat scandal

LONDON — Britain’s food safety regulator has raided a slaughterhouse and a meat processing firm after finding evidence they sold horsemeat labeled as beef.

The Food Standards Agency says the Peter Boddy slaughterhouse in northern England and Farmbox Meats in west Wales — which it supplied — had both been shut down.

The agency said Tuesday it was investigating how “meat products, purporting to be beef for kebabs and burgers, were sold when they were in fact horse.”

Agency director Andrew Rhodes said this appeared to be a case of “blatant misleading of customers,” and Environment Secretary Owen Patterson called it “shocking.”

The move comes after recalls of burgers, frozen lasagna and other pre-prepared meals in several European countries. The meals were labeled as beef but were found to contain horsemeat.