The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has insisted that beef burger products, which were found to contain horse DNA, ‘pose no risk to public health'.

The authority made the statement following the publication of a study it had carried out into the authenticity of a number of beef burger, beef meal and salami products.

Altogether, 27 beef burger products were analysed and of these, almost four in 10 tested positive for horse DNA while at least eight in 10 tested positive for pig DNA.

Among the beef meal products, two in three tested positive for pig DNA but no horse DNA was found. The salami products all tested negative for horse DNA.

"While there is a plausible explanation for the presence of pig DNA in these products due to the fact that meat from different animals is processed in the same meat plants, there is no clear explanation at this time for the presence of horse DNA in products emanating from meat plants that do not use horsemeat in their production process," said FSAI chief executive, Prof Alan Reilly.

While the level of horse DNA in nine of the 10 beef burger products tested was very low, one product -Tesco's Everyday Value Beef Burger - contained 29% of horsemeat relative to the beef content.

Tesco, Dunnes Stores, Aldi, Lidl and Iceland were all found to be selling beef burgers containing horse DNA. All of the affected products were processed at two Irish plants - Liffey Meats and Silvercrest Foods - and one plant in the UK - Dalepak Hambleton.

"In Ireland, it is not in our culture to eat horsemeat and therefore, we do not expect to find it in a burger. Likewise, for some religious groups or people who abstain from eating pig meat, the presence of traces of pig DNA is unacceptable. We are working with the meat processing plants and the Department of Agriculture to find out how horse DNA could have found its way into these products," Prof Reilly said.

All of the affected products have been removed from supermarket shelves.