Up to 16 countries have now been implicated in a European horsemeat scandal that British officials are describing a "criminal conspiracy".

Britain's food minister Owen Paterson has flagged possible legal action against those involved in the contamination scare, which has seen horsemeat labelled and sold as beef.He says warnings about the products have been sent out to 16 different countries that might be affected."The ultimate source of these incidents is still being investigated but it is already clear that we are dealing with Europe-wide supply networks," he told Britain's House of Commons.This appears to be an issue of fraud and mislabelling, but if anything suggests the need for changes to surveillance and enforcement in the UK we will not hesitate to make those changes.French ministers prepared to hold a crisis meeting with key players in the meat industry as French anti-fraud agents searched the premises of two French firms at the heart of the scandal.