Third of local authorities order horse DNA tests on school dinners The Brake Group, a major supplier of school and hospital meals in Britain, has withdrawn a frozen lasagne after a similar product was found to be contaminated with horse meat. DNA tests on the lasagne last night came back negative, but there are concerns that other ready made beef products in schools and hospitals could be contaminated. The NHS has ordered independent DNA tests of all major hospital suppliers for traces of horse meat contamination. While most hospitals prepare fresh food in hospital kitchens, a growing number are reliant on pre-prepared meals because of cost cutting. Janice Gillan, the chairman of the Hospital Caterers Association, said: "We have got vulnerable patients and their safety is paramount. An independent assessor is conducting DNA tests for horse meat and the results should be back within a week. But many hospitals are now being built without kitchens, leaving them with no option but to buy in ready prepared meals. "It means that they can't cater for all patients" needs. A fresh meal should be regarded as the best form of medicine. Owen Paterson, the environment secretary, met representatives from Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons at Westminster. He said: "The industry today committed to work absolutely as hard as they can to get out the remainder of results by this Friday, and they will be announced by the FSA. Looking ahead there was absolute determination in the industry to restore confidence in their products, and I am pleased to say we look forward to meeting on a regular basis to absolutely make it clear that when consumers buy a product, they get what they bought. A survey of 49 councils by Local Authority Catering Association found that almost a third have asked trading standards to carry out DNA tests. Half have asked suppliers to provide the results of their own tests, and one in 10 have contracted independent laboratories themselves. Mo Baines, a spokeswoman for the association for public service excellence, which jointly conducted the survey, said that local authorities were on the "front foot." Downing Street blamed European Union regulations for stopping Government reforms intended to prevent horse meat illegally entering the food chain. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs attempted to strengthen the horse passports system in an attempt to stop cancer-causing veterinary drugs from entering the food chain. However, Downing Street said EU rules had made it impossible to implement. On Friday, the Food Standards Agency will publish the results of further tests on beef products. Last week one in 65 beef products were found to be contaminated with horse meat, including products from Aldi, Tesco, Asda and Findus. The results of tests on hospital food are likely to be published at the same time. A Dispatches investigation on Channel 4 found that one of the suppliers embroiled in the horse meat scandal previously sold meat contaminated with tape worm parasites. The trader, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was filmed by an undercover reporter in 2004. He also admitted dealing with "smokies" - sheep blowtorched to give them a barbecue flavour, a process which is illegal due to health risks.