Following investigations by the UK government and various internal probes by food retailers, consumers in Britain and France have been told that Romanian horsemeat has been used in a range of ’beef products’, prompting supermarkets and suppliers to withdraw items from the shelves.
This weekend, supermarket chains in France removed various lines in was has been described as a severe case of fraud, compounded by the tortuous supply chains that complicate the tracing of the beef’s origins.
Discoveries in Findus’s supply chain, one of the companies highlighted in the headlines in the UK press last week, have underlined the vulnerability in these supply chains which stretch across Europe.
Findus is supplied by a company based in northeastern France called Comigel, which makes similar products for food suppliers and retailers in 16 countries. The Findus products revealed to contain horsemeat in the UK came from a Comigel factory in Luxembourg. Comigel in turn was supplied with meat from a company in southwestern France called Spanghero, whose parent is called Poujol.
Matthieu Lambeaux, head of Findus in France, said the company had been tricked and would file a lawsuit on Monday against an unnamed party for fraud.
“We thought we had certified French beef in our products. But in reality, we were supplied with Romanian horsemeat. We have been deceived,” he said.
UK ministers, meanwhile have warned consumers to expect “further bad news” this week as investigations pursue the true origins of many of the ’beef’ products that have landed on supermarket shelves.
