France's anti-fraud watchdog said Friday that horsemeat found in lasagne meals was falsely marked as beef and said it was trying to trace the origin of the fraud. Inspections "have confirmed the presence of horsemeat mixed with beef" the DGCCRF said in a statement, adding it was "trying to identify where the fraud originated and the commercial circuits concerned." It said investigations had shown that the meat was "provided by a French supplier" and added it was in touch with the European Commission and European counterparts to try to track the source of the fraud.

The French food company that supplied frozen lasagne found to contain up to 100 percent horsemeat to British supermarkets said Friday the dishes presented no health risk. In its first reaction to the scandal, Comigel said it had withdrawn all products from a meat supplier who had provided it with horsemeat instead of beef but said veterinary services in France and Luxembourg had said the "horsemeat evidence in question does not raise any public health issue". am/mm/txw