12 February 2013 Last updated at 13:45 ET

Slaughterhouse and meat firm raided

A slaughterhouse and a meat firm have been raided by police and food safety officials probing alleged mislabelling of horsemeat as beef.

Peter Boddy Licensed Slaughterhouse, in West Yorkshire, and Farmbox Meats Ltd, Aberystwyth, have had work suspended.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said it was unacceptable if UK firms were defrauding the public.

Meanwhile, Waitrose withdrew its Essential British Frozen Beef Meatballs after pork was detected in two batches.

The Food Standards Agency suspended operations at both the raided premises, detained all meat found and seized paperwork, including customer lists from the two companies.

The West Yorkshire plant was thought to have supplied horse carcasses to the Aberystwyth plant, which were then allegedly sold on as beef for kebabs and burgers.

Both West Yorkshire and Dyfed-Powys police entered the premises with the FSA.

Mr Paterson said: "This is absolutely shocking. It's totally unacceptable if any business in the UK is defrauding the public by passing off horsemeat as beef.

"I expect the full force of the law to be brought down on anyone involved in this kind of activity."

'Integrity essential'

FSA director of operation Andrew Rhodes said: "I ordered an audit of all horse-producing abattoirs in the UK after this issue first arose last month, and I was shocked to uncover what appears to be a blatant misleading of consumers.

"I have suspended both plants immediately while our investigations continue."

The Welsh minister for agriculture, Alun Davies, said: "Integrity and trust are essential in the food chain. I would be appalled if these allegations are proven.

"The Welsh Government is working closely with Defra (Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and the FSA to ensure this matter is dealt with swiftly and decisively."

The latest developments came as Mr Paterson held another meeting with the FSA, supermarkets and food producers to discuss the spreading horsemeat contamination scandal.

He told MPs during a Commons debate earlier that "too much is taken on trust" when it comes to verifying meat supplies.

At Waitrose, a spokeswoman said it had had "contradictory results" from tests on the frozen beef meatballs.

She said all had tested negative for horse DNA, but one test had indicated the presence of some pork.

"We have withdrawn two batches of these products as pork is not listed as a product in the recipe."

The products have a best before date of the end of June 13 and the end of August 13.

Mr Paterson will travel to Brussels on Wednesday to discuss the scandal with counterparts in EU countries.