Supermarkets must tell public of suspect foods, MPs demand Mr Gardiner said: "It's absolutely essential to have transparency and it's essential they make it public, because from the consumer's point of view it's no good to them if they've just bought a meat pie then the retailer withdraws it quietly because they are worried about it. If the retailer is worried in any way about what's in that pie they have to tell the public now, straight away, otherwise it's taking a risk with public safety. Last week it emerged that Findus had been warned that there was a potential problem with its beef lasagne products more than a week before the public was told. It withdrew 180,000 lasagne ready meals from sale, citing a "labelling issue," and it was days before consumers were told the products were made from up to 100 per cent horse meat. Waitrose, meanwhile, knew its beef meatballs might have contained pork two weeks before it informed the authorities. Tesco began withdrawing its spaghetti bolognese ready meals, which were found to contain up to 60 per cent horse meat, before going public. Mary Creagh, the shadow environment secretary, said on friday night: "The public must have confidence that the food they buy is properly labelled, legal and safe to eat whether it is purchased from a supermarket or in a school canteen." On Thursday, Downing Street accused food retailers of keeping customers in the dark about the extent of the horse meat scandal with an "unacceptable" wall of silence. Retailers including the bosses of Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons responded with an open letter to customers in which they said they would "immediately withdraw" any product under suspicion and would "do whatever it takes to restore public confidence." A spokesman for the FSA said: "If there is a food safety issue retailers have an obligation to inform us. When there is not a food safety issue our advice is to withdraw products rather than risk prosecution. Horse meat is not a food safety issue because it is safe to eat.