Meat from Ireland was found during a series of raids carried out in the UK last week during which 30 tonnes of illegal meat including lambs brains and gizzards was uncovered.
In one raid a haul of goat meat, cows' feet, poultry and smoked cattle hide was uncovered in Carpenters Row, Bow, East London following an investigation lasting seven months.
Code-named "Lobster Pot", the operation involved 16 environmental officers working in health and safety standards at Tower Hamlets Council supported by 50 Metropolitan police officers.
Safety officers were tracking the gang who are believed to have brought meat meant for destruction and taken it to Tower Hamlets before allegedly processing and re-packing it for human consumption, according to a news agency report. The authorities have also gathered evidence to suggest the gang bleached putrefied chicken pieces to give them a healthy appearance.
The London raid was reported to be one of 23 similar operations carried out at premises throughout England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland.
But yesterday the Department of Agriculture and Food in Dublin denied that any raids had been carried out in the Republic but confirmed it had helped the British authorities in their investigations. "It would appear that Irish meat was found in one of the premises which was raided and we were asked to authenticate the documentation which was on that meat," he said.
"We checked and the documents were authentic and to our knowledge there was no Irish meat found which was not fit for human consumption," he said.
"In this country when meat is deemed to be unsafe or not fit for human consumption, it is sprayed with indelible inks and cannot get back into the food chain again. Similar regulations do not exist in Britain where there have been problems uncovered," he said.
It is understood that the quantity of Irish meat which formed part of the investigation was not uncovered in the East London raid where counterfeit meat stamps were also uncovered in a rat infested building.
The operation, one of the largest ever mounted in Britain, saw meat plants and halal meat outlets in Walsam Forest, Hackney, Harrow and Newham also being visited.
One of the investigators, Mr Adrian Grieves, an environmental health officer said: "This is one of the biggest co-ordinated raids ever carried out, if not the biggest.
"Although our surveillance work gave us a good idea of what we could expect, we were astounded at the sheer amount of meat we found."
Food safety officers tracked the gang who are believed to have bought meat destined for abattoirs and taken it to Tower Hamlets, before allegedly processing and re-packaging it for human consumption.
They swooped on the illegal rat-infested meat plant last Thursday, where counterfeit meat stamps and 60 gas cylinders stored next to flammable materials were also unearthed.
A court application has been made for the destruction of all the illegal meat.
More than 100 local authority officers across the UK were drafted in to help carry out the seizures.