UK supermarket Tesco rapped over misleading horse meat advert The ASA has ruled that a claim by Tesco that the horse meat scandal was a problem for "the whole food industry" should not be repeated. TESCO has been accused of trying to fool customers over the horse meat burger scandal by trying to spread the blame to others. The supermarket was the focus of public outrage after it emerged in January that some of its cheap frozen burgers were as much as 29 per cent horse meat. At the time, Britain's biggest food retailer apologised but suggested it was the victim of a widespread problem, saying in adverts: "It's about the whole food industry." The claim outraged the nation's independent butchers. And in a ruling published today, the Advertising Standards Authority upheld objections to the Tesco claim that this was a problem for "the whole food industry." The advertising watchdog said the statement would be understood by consumers to relate to all food retailers and suppliers, rather than Tesco alone. The ASA said: "Because the ad implied that all retailers and suppliers were likely to have sold products contaminated with horse meat, and because relatively few instances of contamination had been identified at the time the ad appeared, we concluded the ad was misleading." It said the claim should not be repeated. Some of Tesco's cheap frozen burgers were found to contain as much as 29 per cent horse meat. Brindon Addy, chairman of the Guild of Q Butchers, welcomed the ruling. He said: "It was not only Tesco, but this was a problem of the big boys. They were screwing the prices down to demand cheaper products with the result that cutting plants ended up using horse in manufactured products. Tesco tried to mislead customers, but I don't think they were fooled. People realised it was problem of less trustworthy supermarkets and have changed to the high-end butchers. As a result, we have seen a 30 per cent increase in sales. This was not a problem of quality butchers, who deal directly with farmers or small, reputable wholesalers. Mr Addy said he was surprised that Tesco and others have not been prosecuted. Mr Addy, whose business is based in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, said: "It was wrong to sell horse meat as beef. It was misleading. If it was me selling horse meat in burgers, I know I would have been clobbered by the local authority. In its defence to the ASA, Tesco produced expert evidence arguing that the contamination was widespread. It claimed that while small butchers do source local food, they do not have the resources to audit suppliers to guarantee its authenticity.