MPs on alert after food tests

The House of Commons confirmed today that its own cafes and restaurants had conducted "precautionary" DNA testing on steak and kidney and beef and onion pies, along with steak and kidney suet pudding and Italian meatballs.

The dishes had been withdrawn before all four items tested negative for horse DNA, a spokesman said.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said the food retail industry had assured him they were "absolutely determined" to restore consumer confidence.

But National Beef Association director Chris Mallon blamed the scandal squarely on supermarkets' "bullying culture."

According to him, supermarket buyers had driven quality suppliers out of the market with short-sighted purchasing tactics, but the trend could not continue much longer.

He said: "They adopted a bullying culture aimed exclusively at securing as much farm food as possible for as little cost as possible and the result is tortured supply chains that add so much unnecessary cost that short cuts on quality and traceability, and even cheating by some suppliers, was inevitable."

The news came as Britain's Food Standards Agency said it was expanding its investigations to cover cafe sandwiches, gelatine, stock cubes and other beef-based foods, with more than 500 products now in the spotlight.

Horsemeat was also discovered in school dinners destined for 47 Lancashire schools.

But initial tests returned today cleared school dinners in Worcestershire.