Horse DNA found in products sold by Whitbread, which owns the Scunthorpe Anchor pub and Premier Inn

The Whitbread group, which owns the Scunthorpe Premier Inn hotel and The Anchor Beefeater pub and restaurant, has taken two food products off its menus after they tested positive for horse DNA.

The firm has removed its meat lasagne and beef burgers from sale after tests prompted by the horsemeat scandal.

A Whitbread spokesman said: "At Whitbread we take the quality and standards of our food extremely seriously and although we have continued to receive assurances from our suppliers about the meat content of our products, in line with the Food Standards Agency guidance we have carried out independent tests on meat products.

"We sent 30 products to be tested and received the results of these tests yesterday afternoon (Thursday, February 14). 

£5.00 VOUCHER

Megna Restaurant & Takeaway

View details

Print voucher

Book a table for 2 and get £5 off with this voucher. When ringing quote: “This is Scunthorpe” promotion.

Terms: Cannot be used with any other offers or vouchers. Your email address.......................... (if you want to receive vouchers in the future). Print voucher or show us the voucher on your phone.

Contact: 01724 281289

Valid until: Saturday, June 22 2013

"Two of these products tested positively for equine DNA and we immediately removed them from our menus.

"The two affected products were a meat lasagne and a beef burger.

"They will not be replaced until further testing has been undertaken and we are fully reassured of the integrity of our products.  

"We are shocked and disappointed at this failure of the processed meat supply chain. 

"As an industry, it is clear we need the supply chain to deliver products to the highest standards of food integrity and quality that we and our customers expect.

"As a responsible business we shall work with the FSA to implement a robust testing regime to avoid this happening in the future.

"We would like to sincerely apologise to our customers for any concerns or inconvenience that this may cause."

Whitbread is the latest company to remove products from sale since the horsemeat scandal began.

Nine supermarkets have so far withdrawn meat products, although not all were found to be contaminated.