2013 horse meat scandal King, which has more than 500 fast food outlets in Ireland and the UK, dropped Silvercrest as a supplier, using suppliers in Germany and Italy instead, after horse meat was found in their supply chain. Waitrose removed beef meatballs from sale when it found that they contained pork. The meatballs were manufactured by an ABP factory in Glasgow. Waitrose, part of John Lewis, said it would be creating a new facility to supply its own beef products. Tesco, the Co-operative Group and Aldi also cancelled contracts with ABP Food Group because of the adulteration. Food wholesaler Makro, supplier to the
2013 horse meat scandal president of Comigel, Erick Lehagre, told Agence France-Presse that the adulterated meat supplier was Spanghero, a firm owned by Lur Berri and founded in 1970 by Claude and Laurent Spanghero, two former France international rugby players. He said that Spanghero had told him that the meat was not from France, but came from a producer in Romania. On 11 February 2013 France's Consumer Affairs Minister Benoit Hamon warned it "will not hesitate" to take legal action if there is evidence companies had knowingly duped consumers. Hamon said an initial investigation by French safety authorities had found a French company Poujol