One-third of Tyrol

"In 27 cases the label is not correct," he said. The tests so far had been by a "very reliable" method. Final results after further testing would be known on Wednesday. At that stage firms would be notified immediately, and the offending articles removed from supermarket shelves, said Jenewein. In Vienna, Agriculture Minister Wilhelm Molterer meanwhile described the latest scandal involving pork as an absolute "disgrace".

The law had been broken twice over, he said. Austrian farmers feeding their pigs antibiotics and other drugs had bought them more cheaply abroad. They had then illegally used the drugs. "There is no excuse for this," said Molterer during a public discussion Monday night. The pig-breeders involved faced "huge penalties". The minister said he was working on a new law which would already make possession of the illegal drugs a punishable offence, even before they were fed to pigs.

More than 15 farms have already been closed in Austria, and about 50 other farmers reported by investigators into the pig-feed scandal. On Tuesday, reports from Italy spoke of false labels declaring cattle to be "from Austria", which is one of the European countries still officially free of BSE - Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy.

Dozens of slaughtered cattle had been found near the town of Vicenza, with their meat labelled as "Austrian". Police said they suspected trading in the false labels.

(la/dpa)