The Romanian government has hit back at suggestions one of Romania’s abattoirs could be to blame for undeclared horse meat making it into frozen readymeals.

French meat supplier Spanghero said it had sourced beef for Findus readymeal manufacturer Comigel from Romania, via traders in the Netherlands and Cyprus.

The meat content of some readymeals made by Comigel – including Beef Lasagne in the UK – has since turned out to be horse.  

But Romanian prime minister Victor Ponta said he was “angry” Romania had been blamed for the scandal. “”From all the data we have at the moment, there is no breach of European rules committed by companies from Romania or on Romanian territory,” he said at a news conference earlier today.

He added the accusations of wrongdoing had put Romania’s reputation at risk, and the real culprits needed to be found urgently “It has to be established where the fraud was committed and who is responsible for this fraud,” he said.