Horsemeat scandal widens across EU

Six French supermarket chains have withdrawn frozen beef meals made by Findus and Comigel.

The move followed the discovery that foods sold in Europe and the UK labelled as beef contained horsemeat.

The scandal has raised questions about the complexity of the food industry's supply chains across the EU.

It has already had an impact on distributors in the UK, France, Sweden, Ireland and Romania.

Food Minister Guillaume Garot said he wanted to ensure that all contentious products had been removed.

Romania is investigating claims one of its abattoirs is responsible.

In the UK, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson is to update MPs on the latest developments in the scandal.

He has already said a moratorium on EU meat imports, which has been called for, was not allowed under EU rules.

The controversy surrounding contamination of meat products has also affected firms in the Irish Republic and Poland.

Last month, Irish food inspectors announced they had found horsemeat in some burgers stocked by a number of UK supermarket chains, including Tesco, Iceland and Lidl.

Seven French supermarket chains - Auchan, Casino, Carrefour, Cora, Monoprix, Grand Jury and Picard - have already withdrawn some of their frozen meat-based meals, including lasagne, from the shelves.

"We want to get the latest from the whole range of people involved in the food chain on what has happened and start to learn the first lessons," Mr Garot told Agence France Presse.

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