The UK food watchdog is considering whether legal action should be taken against companies at the centre of the scandal over horse meat found in beef burgers.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said it would consult relevant local authorities and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) before making a decision to take action.
After a meeting with food industry representatives, the FSA said it would continue a review of the traceability of the food products identified in an FSAI survey which uncovered the scandal.
It also said it would try to further understand how the lower levels of horse and pig meat contamination took place and help to carry out a UK-wide study of food authenticity in meat products.
But Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University in London, said horse meat could have been in beef burgers for years but remained undetected because of insufficient food regulation.
He blamed the findings on light industry regulations, tweeting: "Horse meat in beefburgers suggests failings in corporate food governance.
"Law clear - 'food shall be of nature, substance and quality demanded'."
Tesco's apology is in a number of newspapers Tesco has placed full-page adverts in a number of national newspapers apologising to customers and has also promised to refund those who bought the contaminated products.
In the advertisement, entitled "We apologise", the supermarket says: "While the FSAI has said that the products pose no risk to public health, we appreciate that, like us, our customers will find this absolutely unacceptable."
It continues: "We have immediately withdrawn from sale all products from the supplier in question, from all our stores and online ... We and our supplier have let you down and we apologise."
It comes as the food company at the centre of the scandal - ABP Food Group - vowed to adopt strict DNA testing of its products to prevent a repeat.
The company, one of Europe's biggest suppliers and processors, is being investigated by health and agriculture authorities in the UK and Ireland.
Two of its subsidiaries - Silvercrest Foods in Ireland and Dalepak Hambleton in Yorkshire - supplied beef burgers with traces of equine DNA to supermarkets, including one product classed as 29% horse.
Products from Lidl, Aldi, Tesco and Iceland were found to contain horse DNA An ABP spokeswoman said: "It is vital that the integrity of the supply chain is assured and we are committed to restoring consumer confidence.
"We take this matter extremely seriously and apologise for the understandable concern this issue has caused."
A third company, Liffey meats, based in Co Cavan, Ireland, was also found to be supplying products to supermarkets with traces of horse DNA.
Suppliers in the Netherlands and Spain have been identified as the possible sources for incorrectly labelled ingredients.
One product was classed as 29% horse meat The results of the FSAI survey, verified in laboratories in Germany, showed low levels of horse in beef products sold in Tesco, Lidl, Aldi, Iceland and Dunnes Stores in Ireland.
Some burgers were also being sold in the UK but retailers insisted all suspect brands had been taken off the shelves within hours of the findings being released on Tuesday evening.
The scandal saw nearly 1% - or roughly £300m - wiped off the value of supermarket Tesco on Wednesday.
Prime Minister David Cameron said supermarkets had to take responsibility for what he said was an extremely disturbing case.
The FSAI analysed 27 beefburger products with best before dates from last June to March 2014 with 10 of the 27 products - 37% - testing positive for horse DNA and 85% testing positive for pig DNA.
The tests found horse DNA in the following products: Tesco Everyday Value Beef Burgers 29.1%, Tesco Beef Quarter Pounders 0.1%, Oakhurst Beef Burgers in Aldi 0.3%, Moordale Quarter Pounders in Lidl 0.1%, Flamehouse Chargrilled Quarter Pounders in Dunnes Stores 0.1%, and two varieties of Iceland Quarter Pounders 0.1%.
Ten million burgers have been taken off shelves as a result of the scandal.
Liffey Meats said it believed horse DNA was originally contained in raw ingredient marked "bovine only" and supplied by an EU approved factory.
It said the traces of horse in three of its products were minute.
In a statement, the company said: "Liffey Meats has never produced, purchased or traded any equine products.
"Ingredients were supplied from an EU approved plant and were certified from bovine sources only. We now believe that such imported raw ingredients were the ultimate source of the DNA traces found in some of our products."
:: The FSAI operates an advice line on 1890 33 66 77 from 9am-5pm.
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