Belgium's food safety authority has shut down a beef processing plant and a cold store operated by Veviba in Bastogne and ordered the recall of burgers and oxtail products shipped by the factory because of "a potential risk to consumers".

Some 20 food safety inspectors and 41 police officers raided the site in recent days and obtained a court order to have its licence withdrawn, the agency said in a statement. "Non compliance with food safety legislation was found with many products and led to the cold store's entire stock being impounded," the agency said.

Leading supermarket chains have announced the withdrawal of all products sourced from Veviba. Delhaize said in a statement that it had made the decision based on findings of "fraud and serious breaches of food safety at Veviba in Bastogne".

Colruyt has extended its recall and contract termination to the wider Verbist Group, which controls Veviba. "We are assessing whether legal action should be taken," the retailer added.

UK review

The Belgian scare comes as UK food safety authorities launched a review of all meat-cutting factories last week. This followed an investigation into alleged mislabelling at British meat processor Russell Hume last month.

Reputation is everything in the food industry

Beef scare hits Belgium

Leading Belgian retailers have withdrawn beef products from a factory under investigation by the country's food safety authority days after a similar scare erupted in the UK.