MORE cases of contaminated meat could be revealed within days, the British government has warned, raising fears that an international criminal conspiracy is behind the horse meat scandal.
Environment Secretary Owen Paterson says the next set of results on all retailers' and manufacturers' processed beef products, due on Friday, may reveal more traces of horse meat.
"There may well be more bad results coming through, that's the point of doing this random analysis," Mr Paterson said.
Findus, one of the food companies at the centre of the horse meat scandal says it's considering taking legal action against its suppliers.
The frozen foods company, which has taken its beef lasagne off supermarket shelves after some were found to contain 100 per cent horse meat, says it's looking into legal action because an internal investigation "strongly suggests" the contamination "was not accidental".
The company said in a statement: "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."
Mr Paterson spoke after attending an emergency meeting with the chiefs of leading supermarkets, trade bodies and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to discuss the scandal which has seen supermarket chains including Tesco, Lidl, Aldi and Iceland withdraw some products.
He said retailers have agreed to improve their food testing because they hold the "ultimate responsibility" for making sure their products do not contain horse meat.
The retailers had also agreed that consumers should be compensated if they have bought withdrawn products with no questions asked, he said.
Mr Paterson added: "It's a question of either gross incompetence, but...I'm more concerned there's actually an international criminal conspiracy here, and we've really got to get to the bottom of it.
"If there's a criminal act we will work with the authorities wherever they are to ensure the appropriate measures are taken.
"This is a conspiracy against the public. Selling a product as beef, and including a lot of horse in it is fraud."
Questioned about whether he would be prepared to eat meat bought from a supermarket, he said: "I would be very happy to eat any products on sale in British supermarkets this morning but I would not recommend anyone to eat a product which has been withdrawn."
Prime Minister David Cameron described the matter as "shocking" and "completely unacceptable", while Labour leader Ed Miliband said it was "appalling".
He added: "I think people in the country will be quite shocked that horse meat has been in the food that they have been innocently buying.
"The government has got to get a grip on this situation."
The Trading Standards Institute has said the discovery of such high levels of horse meat suggests "deliberate fraudulent activity".
Food safety experts have said there is no risk to public health.
Findus said it carried out a full product recall on Monday, two days before DNA tests found that some of its lasagnes contained up to 100 per cent horse meat.
The firm, which has its headquarters in London, tested 18 of its beef lasagne products, made by French food supplier Comigel, and found that 11 contained in the range of 60 to 100 per cent horse meat.
Tesco and Aldi have also withdrawn a range of ready meals produced by Comigel over fears that they contained contaminated meat.
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