Dutch meat trader Willy Selten (above) was sentenced to two and a half years in prison on Tuesday in Amsterdam for a Europe-wide fraud in which horsemeat was sold as pure beef.

A Dutch court found that two meat wholesalers owned by Selten had bought and processed a minimum of 336,000kg of horsemeat in 2011 and 2012, selling it on to customers who believed they were buying pure beef.

The horsemeat scandal broke in January 2013 after genetic tests found traces of horsemeat in burgers sold at two British supermarkets. Adulterated beef products were discovered across Europe. The scandal led to at least 50,000 tonnes of meat being recalled across the region. (Reuters report and AFP picture)