Downing Street has criticised the apparent reluctance of retailers to comment publicly on the horsemeat crisis.
Sources at Number 10 have told the BBC that "it isn't acceptable for retailers to remain silent".
But retailers said they would speak out once the results of tests to determine the presence of horsemeat in processed meals were released.
The first results of those tests will be made public on Friday.
Key questionsDowning Street said some of the big supermarkets had questions to answer.
The Number 10 sources said "it isn't acceptable for retailers to remain silent while customers have been misled about the content of the food they have been buying".
They said retailers should answer key questions such as how did the crisis arise, what inquiries have supermarkets made about their suppliers and how can any similar problems be avoided in the future.
French meat processing firm Spanghero have been accused of selling horsemeat as beef
BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said there was clearly frustration at the heart of government that while the actions of ministers have been scrutinised in the media, some of the the large retailers have seemed more reluctant to make an appearance.
A spokesman for the British Retail Consortium said its members had been focusing on the swift testing of their products.
Retailers would talk to the public and media about the results of those tests when they were released, the spokesman said.
He added that he was confident the results would not show a mass of new cases.
Culture Secretary Maria Miller stepped up the criticism by saying retailers should not be "let off the hook" for putting wrongly labelled products on their shelves.
But Labour's Mary Creagh sought to shift the blame back onto the government, accusing ministers of being "asleep on the job".
Lab testsThe tests were ordered by the Food Standards Agency after revelations that quantities of horsemeat had entered some beef ready meals.
Food retailers said they would have results from about 30% per cent of their product ranges.
Some shops have already recalled products they found to be contaminated - including Asda which withdrew a beef bolognese sauce on Thursday, the first fresh beef product to be involved.
Aldi, Tesco and Findus have also withdrawn some beef-based ready meals.
The Food Standards Agency will reveal the results of the industry-wide tests - samples of beef products have been examined in laboratories for traces of horsemeat.
Retailers said getting through all their processed beef ranges could take several weeks.
Meanwhile, food safety experts from across Europe will meet in Brussels on Friday morning.
They will try to draw up detailed plans on how to conduct DNA testing of a large number of beef food products across much of the continent in the coming weeks.
The meeting is being held after the French government accused meat processing company Spanghero of knowingly selling horsemeat labelled as beef.
The firm has denied the allegations, saying it only ever dealt in meat it believed to be beef.
In the UK, police investigating allegations that horsemeat was mislabelled as beef have arrested three men on suspicion of offences under the Fraud Act.
Two men, aged 64 and 42, were held at Farmbox Meats Ltd, near Aberystwyth, and a 63-year-old man was arrested at Peter Boddy Licensed Slaughterhouse, in Todmorden, West Yorkshire.
Both firms have denied any wrongdoing.
French food producer makes order
Comigel HQ in Metz, north-east France, asks its subsidiary, Tavola in Luxembourg, to make food products - including beef lasagne for Findus.
Factory orders meat
The Tavola factory orders the meat from Spanghero in the south of France.
Subcontractor used
Spanghero contacts a subcontractor in Cyprus to source the meat.
Subcontractor enlists trader
The Cypriot subcontractor in turn contacts a trader in the Netherlands.
Trader orders from Romania
The trader in the Netherlands places an order for meat with abattoirs in Romania.
Abattoirs send meat to France
The meat from the abattoirs travels to Spanghero in France. However, Romania rejects claims that it was responsible for wrongly describing the horsemeat from its abattoirs as beef. Horsemeat is always labelled as such, they say. The Romanian authorities claim records show orders had been for horse carcass - easily distinguishable from beef.
Meat used to make products
Spanghero sends the meat to the Comigel subsidiary's factory in Luxembourg before the finished products are supplied to Findus and retailers across Europe, including the UK. The president of Comigel says the company was unaware the meat was coming from abroad.
Horsemeat found in Ireland and UK
Tests by Irish authorities have found equine DNA in beefburgers made by firms in the Irish Republic and the UK. Traces of horsemeat have also been found in stored meat at another plant in Ireland and one in Northern Ireland. In mainland Britain, police and officials probing alleged horsemeat mislabelling have carried out raids at a slaughterhouse in West Yorkshire and a meat firm near Aberystwyth.
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