Source: Multiple

Spanghero’s sanitary licence was revoked

TOULOUSE : Eight managers from former French firm Spanghero, which was at the heart of a European food scandal that saw horsemeat mislabelled as beef, were arrested today, police said.

They were being held in custody and would be grilled by investigators from  the police department charged with looking into breaches of public health and  environmental violations.

The arrests follow a judicial enquiry launched in March into Spanghero for  aggravated fraud and mislabelling of food products.

Spanghero, which has been renamed La Lauragaise, was identified by the  French government as the main player in the horsemeat scandal that saw  mislabelled products sold in several European countries and Hong Kong.

French authorities have said Spanghero, based in the southern town of  Castelnaudary, knowingly sold 750 tonnes of horsemeat mislabelled as beef over  a period of six months.

Spanghero’s sanitary licence was revoked and the company, which had  employed 360 workers before the scandal, closed shop in June. It resumed  activities two months later with new management and backed by two new  financiers.

Related Articles

• UK Horsemeat Scandal: Two Arrested Over Fraud (rtfitchauthor.com)
• Scant progress made in EU horsemeat regulation (horsetalk.co.nz)
• Drugged Up Horsemeat Sold as Beef at Supermarkets (potentnews.com)
• Horsemeat Scandal: Spanghero Is Renamed (news.sky.com)
• UK’s Tesco Horsemeat Ad Banned for Damning Whole Food Industry (rtfitchauthor.com)
• Reuters Video: Horsemeat scandal widens amid arrests, blame game (englishblog.com)