"Evidence is coming to light that some U.K.-based companies may have been exporting U.K. beef," said Agriculture Minister Jack Cunningham. "I am determined to crack down hard on anyone who runs risks with public safety," he added.
He said he had ordered an "immediate" end to operations at the two sites following investigations by ministry officials and the anti-fraud unit of the European Commission, the European Union's executive arm.
"I am serving notices on two companies requiring them to stop the relevant business immediately," he said.
Cunningham gave no further details of the two plants.
"We have been working on this for a number of weeks and action has been taken as soon as possible to prevent any further activities taking place," said a spokesman for the ministry, speaking on terms of customary anonymity. "The investigation is continuing."
In 1996, the 15-nation European Union banned British beef exports and ordered London to accelerate the eradication of mad cow disease through a massive slaughter program.
Scientists believe there may be a link between that degenerative ailment and a new strain of the fatal human brain ailment Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.
Cunningham said the companies that run the two plants may also have flouted hygiene regulations. "We have uncovered very poor hygiene standards, meat which isn't properly labeled, meat which has apparently been labeled with documents from other countries and a whole number of other completely unsatisfactory activities," Cunningham said in an interview with ITN television news.
British beef was discovered April 23 in the Netherlands where officials seized 700 tons and found an additional 900 tons had been shipped to Egypt and Russia.
It was not immediately clear if there is a connection between those shipments and the plants under investigation.
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