Birds Eye is withdrawing three ready meals from UK stores after a product it sells abroad tested positive for horse DNA.

The frozen food giant has pulled all beef products made by Frigilunch NV as a “precautionary measure” following tests that revealed a chilli con carne produced by the supplier and sold in Belgium contained 2% horse DNA.

In the case of the UK market, the products affected by the withdrawal are Birds Eye’s 340g Traditional Spaghetti Bolognese, 400g Shepherd’s Pie and 400g Beef Lasagne.

“The withdrawn products will not be replaced on supermarkets shelves until we have finished our investigations and have complete confidence in this supplier,” Birds Eye said in a statement. 

The company added that its parent company, Igloo Group, had completed tests on all its beef products and had found that Birds Eye beef burgers, beef pies and beef platters did not contain horse DNA.