All processed beef products are safe to eat but consumers must be prepared for more unwelcome news in the ongoing horsemeat scandal, the government says.
Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said "nothing seen so far presented a health risk".
Mr Paterson, who is to update MPs later on the latest developments, said it looked as if an "extensive" criminal conspiracy may have taken place.
Legal action is set to begin in continental Europe on Monday, he added.
Mr Paterson has already said a moratorium on EU meat imports, which has been called for, is not allowed under EU rules.
In France, the government has summoned meat industry representatives to talks and some ready-meals were withdrawn after horsemeat was found in some beef-labelled foods sold in Europe.
Mr Paterson said reports from France suggested the problem had been pinned down to two abattoirs in Romania.
'Continue buying'The controversy surrounding contamination of meat products has also affected firms in the Irish Republic and Poland.
Last month, Irish food inspectors announced they had found horsemeat in some burgers stocked by a number of UK supermarket chains, including Tesco, Iceland and Lidl.
Mr Paterson told the BBC a factory in Luxembourg had to issue warnings to 16 different countries. He said he did not know how widespread the problem was but "we have to be prepared for more unwelcome news".
More tests were being carried out this week week and it was the responsibility of the retailers to "convince their consumers of the validity and quality of their products", he said.
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Environment Secretary Owen Paterson: "This is an issue, for the moment, of labelling and fraud"
"The clear advice from the Food Standards Agency is to continue buying and eating all the processed beef products," he added.
"Should evidence come forward of any serious threat to health obviously we will act very swiftly and that could mean action on imports but at the moment all the evidence is these products are entirely safe."
The Food Standards Agency has updated advice for public institutions. It says those "not satisfied with assurance from suppliers... should take appropriate action depending on the circumstances.
"Where evidence of authenticity is not produced, that action may include requiring the supplier to conduct tests, and reject or temporarily withhold stock, while waiting for results."
Earlier this week, Findus UK took its frozen beef lasagne, made by the Comigel food processing company, off the shelves after some were found to have up to 100% horsemeat in them.
Findus UK said the only product on sale in the UK using ingredients from the French supplier had been its beef lasagne product, and all other beef products on sale in the UK had been DNA-tested and cleared.
Export restrictionsSix French supermarket chains - Carrefour, Monoprix, Auchan, Casino, Cora and Picard - have also withdrawn ready-meals from Findus and Comigel.
Findus France has said it will take action in the French courts, believing itself to be the victim of fraud.
But the company that supplied the meat, Spanghero, based in southern France, has also said it was the victim of fraud - and intends to sue its Romanian supplier.
The French minister for consumer affairs, Benoit Hamon, said it appeared financial gain was the motive of the fraud and overall it could have netted the perpetrators £250,000.
Romania's president, Traian Basescu, said if false labelling had been carried out with the intention of making money that would discredit the country for a long time and raise the risk of export restrictions.
Constantin Savu, a representative of Romania's National Food Safety Authority, said more than 25 abattoirs there were authorised not only to butcher horsemeat but also to export it within the EU.
Commons food and rural affairs committee chairman Conservative MP Anne McIntosh has called for a temporary ban on all processed or frozen meat imports from the EU until the source of the contamination is found.
Shadow environment secretary Mary Creagh said "a measured, controlled response" which was "proportionate" was needed.
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