PARIS (AP) — A French minister says the French meat wholesaler Spanghero is to blame for fraudulently labeling horsemeat as beef.

Benoit Hamon, the French economy minister, says Spanghero officials were fully aware that the cheaper horsemeat was mislabeled. The agriculture minister said the company has been immediately suspended.

A French investigation has found that the horsemeat scandal has spread to involve 13 countries and 28 companies.

Hamon said a total of 750 tons of horsemeat was involved.

He said Spanghero had received a shipment of horsemeat from a Dutch middleman and passed it off as beef upon reselling it to a frozen food processor.

He also said the processor, Comigel, should have realized the problem as soon as the meat was thawed if they had not already noticed the questionable paperwork.