BEEFburgers have been taken off the school meals menu in the wake of the horsemeat scandal.
Wrexham and Flintshire Councils removed the 2oz beefburgers yesterday as a precaution after a recommendation by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to their supplier.
No horse DNA has been found in tested beefburgers, but traces of horse DNA have been found on the property of the suppliers of meat to the beefburger production company.
Tom Davies, head of development and resources at Flintshire Council, said: “We have been informed beefburgers available on Flintshire school meals menus have been tested and no trace of equine DNA has been found.
“However, routine testing has been carried out further down the supply chain and traces of equine DNA have been found in the property of the suppliers of meat to the beefburger production company.
“As a precaution the supplier, following advice from the Food Standards Agency, has made the decision to withdraw the beefburgers.”
A spokesman for Wrexham Council said: “The council’s school catering team has taken the decision to remove beefburgers from today’s menu following a recommendation by the Food Standards Agency to its supplier.
“This was done as a precautionary measure. The beefburgers in question are a new product to Wrexham Council school catering service and have never been served on our menu previously.
“All of the beefburgers have been returned to the supplier and will not be used. The school catering team has also received a certificate from the supplier which shows the beefburgers it supplied are not contaminated.
“The decision to remove these beefburgers from today’s menu was taken in response to the very latest information the council has and it is keen to reassure pupils and parents about the quality of school meals.
“We will continue to monitor this situation and keep all our schools, parents and pupils informed of any future developments.”
The beefburgers in question were distributed by Oswestry-based The Little Food Company but made by the Builth Wells-based Burger Manufacturing Company.
A spokesman for the Burger Manufacturing Company said meat is supplied to them by Farmbox Meats, near Aberystwyth, the processing plant at the centre of a police raid earlier this month in which two arrests were made.
A spokesman for The Little Food Company said: “Having had confirmation from Burger Manufacturing Company that this product was clear from equine DNA, further testing by the FSA has shown three of nine products tested from this manufacturer contain levels of equine DNA.
“Therefore as a precautionary measure, Wrexham and Flintshire school meals and ourselves have decided to withdraw this product from sale until results of our independent DNA tests are available. We have isolated and collected all this stock from their schools before any were served.
“We were notified at 4.40pm on Tuesday and by 12.30pm on Wednesday all this product had been collected and alternative products served.
“This burger is a bespoke product for Welsh local education authorities and is not on general sale.
“We have now arranged for samples of all processed beef products to sent for Independent testing.”