Burger King admits to horse meat in its burgers, including Whoppers

London: Burger King admits to horse meat in its burgers, including the world-famous Whoppers, in its United Kingdom locations. The news comes two weeks after the popular fast food restaurant chain first denied the presence of horse meat in its food.

According to a Jan. 31, 2013 report by The Daily Mail, "The contaminated burgers were made by the Irish-based processing company, Silvercrest, which is part the ABP Foods Group."

Last month, it was discovered that horse meat had been found in burgers for sale in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Several stores had meat that tested positive for horse DNA: Tesco, Dunnes Stores, Lidl, Aldi and Iceland. Initially, the mystery was how the horse meat was found in the burgers when the plants that processed them do not process meat from horses.

Blocks of frozen meat from a non-approved supplier in Poland turned out to be the culprit. The imported beef contained minute amounts of horse meat that made their way into burgers, including those sold at Burger King.

The news that Burger King admits horse meat in its burgers only after two weeks of denials is leading some to believe an intentional coverup was being perpetrated on unwitting consumers. One theory has it that the company denied the presence of horse meat in its food long enough to procure an alternate supplier.