French firm at centre of investigation

A French company has been named as being at the centre of the horsemeat scandal while Britain has also been drawn.

French firm  at centre of investigation

An investigation has uncovered a ring of fraudulent swapping of horse for beef, particularly in processed foods manufactured by some of the world’s biggest producers. It also revealed a massive tax-dodging scheme, as horse costs just 25% of beef.

Europol, which co-ordinates EU police forces, has already begun its investigation.

France moved swiftly yesterday once the report was released and removed the licence from the Spanghero company based in the southern farming region of Languedoc, in the small town of Castelnaudary.

However, the company rejected the accusations, saying the meat it received was labelled as beef and that it was sold on as beef.

The investigation suggested Spangero made over €550,000 in six months from buying cheap horsemeat and selling it as beef.

More than 750 tonnes of meat was involved in that time. While the company denies it did anything wrong, French Agriculture Minister Stéphane Le Foll suspended its licence.

The other French companies linked to the scandal will not get off free either.

Mr Le Foll said Comigel — which manufactured lasagne found to contain 100% horsemeat — did not carry out necessary inspections in its Luxembourg factory.

The lasagne label also did not comply with the law as it stated “EU origin meat” when it should have given the geographical origin of where the animal was reared and slaughtered, he said.

Invoices from Spanghero show it bought large quantities of minced frozen horsemeat, which was a mixture of lean and fat meat and collagen found in other parts of the animal.

The chain appears to begin with a Dutch or Belgian meat trader, convicted last year for selling South American horse to Germany as halal beef.

He set up a firm in Cyprus that received orders and he ordered horsemeat from Romania, where documents show it was filled and labelled as horsemeat.

While member states are solely responsible for enforcing labelling rules, the European Commission will step in as a result of traces of the painkiller phenylbutazone being found in three horse carcasses sent from Britain to France.

The French authorities said they were identified in Calais and did not enter the food chain, but Europol will investigate.

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