Swedish frozen-food company Findus withdrew all its beef lasagna ready meals from supermarkets after tests revealed they contained up to 100% horsemeat. But the investigation took an EU-wide dimension as British investigators found evidence of “gross negligence or possibly criminality” involving several countries.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA), a British government body, held a meeting on Saturday (9 February) with UK regulators and food industry representatives in the ongoing contaminated meat incident.

“This is a conspiracy against the public,” said British farm minister Owen Paterson before convening the weekend meeting. “I’ve got an increasing feeling that it is actually a case of an international criminal conspiracy.”