Governments Promise Punishment For Horsemeat

[HuffingtonPost]

* France says beef contaminated with horse came from Romania                

* Findus planning legal action against suppliers                

* Britain warns more cases of contamination could emerge                

* Romania checking whether its abattoirs supplied the meat                

By Leigh Thomas and Tim Castle                

PARIS/LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The French and British  governments promised on Saturday to punish those found  responsible for selling horsemeat in beef products at the heart  of a growing scandal that started in Britain but is quickly  spreading to France.                

French Consumer Affairs Minister Benoit Hamon said an  investigation had found that the horsemeat had originated in  Romania, although there were links with French, Dutch and  Cypriot firms and a factory in Luxembourg.                

British environment minister Owen Paterson said more cases  of contaminated food could emerge as British retailers conducted  tests for horsemeat on processed beef products. The scandal  threatens to affect consumer confidence in Europe's giant food  industry, with pressure rising for greater checks.                

The British unit of frozen foods group Findus   began a recall this week of its beef lasagne from retailers on  advice from its French supplier, Comigel, over concerns that  some packs contained high levels of horsemeat.                

Findus France said it too had recalled lasagne and two other  products after discovering that they included horsemeat from  Romania rather than beef from France as it had thought.                

Hamon said an EU-wide alert had been sent out and that it  was not yet clear whether there had been an intentional fraud or  the meat had been sold as beef by accident.                

"I can assure you that, whether it's a question of  negligence or direct responsibility, there will be sanctions,"  Hamon said on iTele television.                                

LEGAL COMPLAINT                

Findus France Director General Matthieu Lambeaux said in a  statement the company would file a legal complaint on Monday.                

"We thought we had certified French beef in our products.  But in reality, we were supplied with Romanian horsemeat. We  have been deceived," Lambeaux said.                

Hamon said a Luxembourg factory had been supplied by the  French firm Poujol, which had bought the meat frozen from a  Cypriot trader, who in turn sub-contracted the order to a Dutch  trader supplied by a Romanian abattoir.                

However, Findus's supplier Comigel, a frozen foods producer  based in eastern France, told a newspaper it had bought the meat  from another French company, supplied from a Romanian abattoir.                

Romanian authorities said they would punish any violations  if the reports were confirmed.                

"The agriculture ministry and food safety authority will try  to identify as soon as possible whether the (meat) comes from  Romania. If legislation was broken, they will punish such  practices that damage the image of the entire industry,"  Romania's agriculture ministry said.                

In Britain Findus said it believed the contamination was  deliberate.                

"The early results from Findus UK's internal investigation  strongly suggests that the horsemeat contamination in beef  lasagne was not accidental," it said.                

Findus's product recall was followed in Britain by  supermarket chain Aldi, which withdrew two frozen beef products  supplied by Comigel after they tested positive for horsemeat.                

Paterson summoned Britain's leading food retailers and  representatives of food processors to an emergency meeting at  his office in London on Saturday to discuss the crisis.                

He said participants were determined to get to the bottom of  a scandal which he said was either caused by "gross incompetence  or what I suspect is an international criminal conspiracy".                

Britain's government is under pressure to appear on top of  the scandal, which comes less than a month after supermarket  chain Tesco and fast food outlet Burger King   found horsemeat in beef burgers from an Irish supplier.                

Britons generally do not eat horsemeat, regarding its  consumption as a quirk of French appetites. However, the meat  has also fallen out of favour with consumers in France.

Via: HuffingtonPost