Man who served prison term for meat trafficking 'behind horsemeat scandal in France'
A man who has previously served a prison term for meat trafficking is being blamed for the horsemeat scandal in France.
It has emerged Dutch and Cypriot meat companies owned by the same man distributed horsemeat throughout France and Luxembourg where it was processed into frozen burgers and lasagnes.
The French government said there was a litany of failures at every level. It criticised processors for not being more suspicious, as the product - which came from Romania - was so cheap and would have been a different colour to beef.
Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney said it was a clear case of fraud.
"When you think about all the countries involved, you begin to understand that this is a very complex European problem whereby cheap meat is being traded across borders," he said.
"Somebody in that supply chain has sold horsemeat as beef, and made money out of it. That's fraud."
