UK food standards chief defends agency The Food Standards Agency insisted that traceability in the UK's food chain was "very good" after British companies were implicated in the horsemeat scandal for the first time. Andrew Rhodes, director of operations at the FSA, said on Wednesday the agency discovered horsemeat slaughtered in Yorkshire was being sent to a factory in west Wales where it was used in products labelled as beef. The FSA seized all the meat and other evidence for a potential prosecution and have involved police in both regions, he said. "What will come from this is people acknowledging the food chain is very complicated . . . but that traceability is actually very, very good," he told the BBC's Today programme on Wednesday morning. In every abattoir we're a permanent presence. The FSA is there every single day and at every cutting plant we're there very regularly," he said. It is not true that we're not doing very active work in this regard. Retailers and manufacturers will start sending in the results of DNA tests on Friday, but Mr Rhodes warned it could take some time for all the results to be returned. Processed beef products will be prioritised. From now on, retailers will routinely have to send test results to the FSA, he said. Waitrose became the latest supermarket to withdraw a meat product on Tuesday after tests revealed pork in its own-brand beef meatballs. The latest discoveries come as Owen Paterson, environment secretary, prepares to meet officials and politicians from other EU countries later on Wednesday in Brussels to try to get to grips with the crisis. Mr Paterson said it was "absolutely shocking" if a UK business was defrauding the public by passing horsemeat off as beef. "I expect the full force of the law to be brought down on anyone involved in this kind of activity," he said. Mary Creagh, shadow environment secretary, told BBC Radio 5 Live consumers have been duped by meat suppliers and the food regulatory system was not "fit for purpose." Peter Boddy, who owns the slaughterhouse in Yorkshire, said his premises had not been raided. He told ITV: "It was not a raid - they are welcome to visit whenever they want, they just wanted to see my records which I will be showing them."