The French food firm that manufactured the Findus lasagnes found to contain up to 100% horsemeat specialises in frozen ready meals, a third of which are exported, reports The Guardian.
Comigel, based in the north-eastern town of Metz, started business in 1976 and supplies tens of thousands of tonnes of frozen meals to about 15 countries.
It was revealed on Friday that the company had alerted the major British food distributors with which it trades because of doubts about what it described as "conformity of specifications" of certain products, namely lasagnes and spaghetti dishes sold as containing beef by Tesco, Aldi and other UK supermarkets.
Findus confirmed it had received the warning last Saturday.
The Comigel group makes its frozen ready meals at its Tavola factory in Capellen, Luxembourg. This site employs 200 people who produce at least 16,000 tonnes of frozen dishes in aluminium trays a year. The meals are then sold either to frozen food firms such as Findus, or to chains such as Tesco and, in France, Cora and Auchan, which in turn sell them under different brand names.
A quarter of the factory's output goes to canteens in schools, colleges, hospitals, retirement homes and companies, and public service restaurants in France.
Comigel's director, Erick Lehagre, was at the Tavola factory on Friday, but was said to be unavailable for comment. Comigel could be subject to large fines as a result of the scandal, even if it is discovered that one of its suppliers is the source of the horsemeat.
Read more of this report from The Guardian.