[8] The company stated that it had not opened the packages of frozen meat product before sending them on to the Luxembourg factory of the Comigel subsidiary Tavola.
[4] On 14 February 2013, the French government confirmed that Spanghero knowingly sold horsemeat labelled as beef, and the company's licence was suspended.
[9] Spanghero president Barthélémy Aguerre denied the claims and several workers demonstrated against the suspension, while consumer protection minister Benoît Hamon defended the government's decision.
[10] On 18 February, Stéphane Le Foll, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forestry announced that he had "sufficient evidence" to restore all the company's licences (meat cutting, charcuterie,...) except frozen storage.
[11] In March 2013, food inspectors found 57 tonnes of frozen sheepmeat at Spanghero, that had been imported from the United Kingdom and that included mechanically recovered meat (MSM).