Aussies warned they may have eaten horse meat or mouse fur after stomach churning find in beef mince and food products

Published: 04:58, 28 July 2026 | Updated: 04:58, 28 July 2026 Aussies may have unknowingly eaten horse meat sold as beef and lamb mince, metal shavings in bread, or mouse fur in food products, secret government files have revealed.  The documents were released in May after NSW Greens politician Abigail Boyd used parliamentary powers to force the NSW Food Authority to produce evidence of serious food safety breaches. While some of the files have been made public, the government claimed privilege over others, preventing their public release, with Boyd only allowed to speak about the documents in general terms. 'There were a lot of instances of things being found in food that shouldn't be there. For example, mouse fur,' she told ABC's Four Corners on Monday. 'You could be eating a minced horse when you think you're eating your mince… that's pretty shocking for the average person. 'There were metal shavings found in bread products… products that were supposed to be dairy-free, that were not dairy-free, [which] were only caught by accident because somebody happened to put it together after their child or they themselves got sick, not because the company had worked it out.'  Boyd said there were cases of needles being found in food. 'We all walk around thinking that in modern Australia, we have food safety standards and enforcement to back that trust up,' she said.  Aussies may have unknowingly eaten horse meat in products sold as beef and lamb mince  'And what we're seeing now is that trust is probably misplaced.' Though this is not the first time the existence of horse meat in beef products has been reported.  In 2013, a major investigation was launched in the UK after horse meat was found in beef lasagna and burgers.  The Four Corners investigation also revealed horse meat is still being found in beef products around the world, prompting experts to call for an Australian-based food fraud unit to be launched to test food products. These units already operate in Europe, the United States and Canada. While the safety of Australian consumers plagues Boyd, she said she is also concerned about animal safety after seeing 'horrifying' examples of animal cruelty within the documents.  'I read some really quite horrifying incidents and reports, particularly around illegal abattoirs, the sort of illegal slaughtering of all sorts of animals; rampant animal cruelty,' she said.  'A really concerning number of illegal knackeries and the result of that is that you've seen horses and other animals ending up in what people would assume to be minced beef or minced lamb.'  'You could be eating a minced horse when you think you're eating your mince… that's pretty shocking for the average person,' NSW Greens MP Abigail Boyd said According to the ABC, the documents also show hundreds of NSW businesses, including aged care homes, hospitals and catering companies, were issued repeated notices for food safety breaches between 2022 and 2026. The breaches included examples of poor hygiene, expired food, and failures to report dangerous bacteria and control food temperatures, with those most vulnerable, like the elderly and children, most at risk. Some of NSW's largest aged care homes were reportedly repeat offenders, including Catholic Healthcare which looks after over 3,000 residents across 41 locations in NSW and southeast Queensland. The aged care giant was reportedly issued three improvement notices at three facilities in Hunters Hill, Mullumbimby and Dubbo between 2023 and 2024.  Mercy Health and Aged Care's Albury facility, Mercy Hospital, and three Uniting aged care facilities in Eden, Hamlyn Terrace and Lane Cove were also issued improvement notices. It comes after ABC's investigation also found dozens of tomato paste and passata products in Aussie supermarkets failed to match the country of origin stated on their labels. Of the 221 processed tomato items from 39 brands, their researched found dozens of products that claim to be from Australia or Italy are actually from China, with among half sourced from Xinjiang - an area known for its use of forced labour. Among the products listed were Leggo's tomato paste, Coles Italian tomato paste and Aldi's home brand Remano paste.  The ABC reports Coles and Aldi both rejected the test results. Daily Mail has contacted the NSW Food Safety Authority for comment.