Findus may sue French suppliers over horse meat contamination as it's revealed one company used by

frozen food specialist was at centre of E. Coli scare.

By Sean Poulter for the Daily Mail 
PUBLISHED: 18:28 GMT, 7 February 2013 | 

Findus may take legal action against its suppliers following the horse meat scandal, the company said
tonight.
The UK firm said it is taking legal advice amid revelations that its beef lasagnes in fact contained 100 per
cent horse meat.
The move comes as it emerged the French firm which supplied the horse meat was at the centre of a major
E.coli scare just 20 months ago.

Tainted =contaminated
Inspectors feared that some 12 tonnes of beef mince from the Spanghero plant in Castelnaudary, in the south
west of the country, contained the potentially lethal bacteria. 
The firm supplied meat for French frozen food giant Comigel which made the Findus beef lasagnes.
Findus said tonight: 'Findus is taking legal advice about the grounds for pursuing a case against its suppliers,
regarding what they believe is their suppliers' failure to meet contractual obligations about product integrity.
'The early results from Findus UK's internal investigation strongly suggests that the horse meat
contamination in Beef Lasagne was not accidental.'

The authorities in France have now begun an 'urgent' investigation of their own into both Comigel and
Spanghero. Consumer Affairs Minister Benoit Hamon said an investigation had found that the horse meat
originated in Romania, although there were links with French, Dutch and Cypriot firms and a factory in
Luxembourg.

He 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.
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.

UK Environment Secretary Owen Paterson held an urgent meeting with the Food Standards Agency (FSA)
and leading retailers today to discuss the escalating scandal.
He warned of a possible 'international criminal conspiracy'
'If there's a criminal act we will work with the authorities wherever they are to ensure the appropriate
measures are taken,' he added.
'It's a straight fraud. If a product says it's beef and you're actually buying horse, that is a fraud.
'It is in the interests of everyone to get this resolved as rapidly as possible.'
Bosses from leading supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons attended the meeting
at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in London.

Scotland Yard said officers had met the FSA, although there is currently no official police investigation.
A Ministry of Agriculture source in Paris confirmed that Spanghero had to withdraw the 12 tonnes of mince
in June 2011 because of suspected contamination by Escherichia coli, which causes potentially fatal food
poisoning. As with the current scare, the contamination was suspected of affecting a wide range of popular
meatball and steak ready meals in the 'House Spanghero' range. 

The source said that Spanghero had increasingly come to rely on imported meat because of the closure of
nearby French abattoirs. 
However, he said there had been no attempt to pretend its 'beef' was from France - as Comigel alleges. 
Highlighting the confusion in the global food chain, Comigel president Erick Lehagre said he was 'certain'
Spanghero was supplying beef from French cattle.
After the horse meat scandal broke, however, he established that Spanghero was sourcing the meat in
Romania.
'We realised a week ago that there was a problem, after being alerted by customers in Britain,' said Mr
Lehagre. 'We have identified the supplier concerned, Spanghero. They've told us the meat came from a
Romanian producer who used abattoirs which slaughtered both cattle and horses and processed beef and
horse meat.'