Paris - The European Union will meet this week in Brussels to discuss how frozen horsemeat was fraudulently passed off as beef, French Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll said Monday.
Meanwhile experts said the results of a French investigation into how the product was mislabelled and by whom would be made public on Wednesday or Thursday.
The Europe-wide scandal spread on Sunday as six French retailers pulled products from their shelves and France promised to have the results of an urgent inquiry within days.
A senior British lawmaker meanwhile upped the stakes by calling for a temporary ban on importing EU meat, as a French minister suggested London was threatening food safety standards by pushing for EU budget cuts.
Several ranges of prepared food have been withdrawn in Britain, France and Sweden after it emerged that frozen food companies had been using horsemeat - traced back to Romania - instead of beef in making lasagnes and other pasta dishes, shepherd's pies and moussakas.