French President Francois Hollande warned on Wednesday that the horsemeat scandal engulfing Europe could seriously damage the country's frozen food sector. His comments came as European farming ministers and the European commissioner for health were set to meet in Brussels amid growing anger and recriminations over mislabelled meat products. "The president underlines that it is a serious affair in relation to consumer confidence and potentially serious for the consequences for the French sector," government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said.

Frozen food producer Findus Nordic said Sunday it would sue French firm Comigel and its suppliers after horsemeat traced to Romania was found in its beef lasagne meals. "This is a breach of contract and fraud," the head of Findus Nordic, Jari Latvanen, said in a statement announcing the legal action. "Such behaviour on the part of a supplier is unacceptable," he added, noting that the meat in its lasagne meals was supposed to be French, German or Austrian beef. Findus "revealed the scandal" and is "absolutely furious" to be scapegoated in the affair, he said.

The head of French food producer Comigel said Sunday the company had been "fooled" by suppliers providing horsemeat as beef and vowed to seek compensation. "We were victims and it's now clear that the problem was not with Findus nor with Comigel," Erick Lehagre told AFP, after the Nordic branch of frozen food giant Findus said it planned to sue Comigel and its suppliers because horsemeat was found in its products marked as containing beef. cds/mm/gd

Frozen food producer Findus Nordic said Sunday it would sue French firm Comigel and its suppliers after horsemeat was found in its beef lasagnes. "This is a breach of contract and fraud," head of Findus Nordic, Jari Latvanen, said in a statement announcing the legal action. cbw/wat/txw