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Meat Scandal


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So I guess today it's known that horsemeat found its way into a "fresh" product application, whereas before the products involved were frozen meals.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4795780/Horse-meat-scandal-DNA-found-in-fresh-beef-for-first-time.html

My impression of the products from over here across the pond was that they tended to be low quality items, but I was wondering if any of our egullet community had been consumers of any of the suspect products?

I suggested to Jay Rayner on twitter that a taste test was in order, but got no response.

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I'm not understanding why eating horsemeat is a bad thing. Of course, it should be noted on the packaging and not sneaked into the product.

I was under the impression (perhaps mistakenly) that horsemeat is sold in France.

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It was fraudulently sold as beef.

Horsemeat is sold for consumption in other places that aren't the UK. To the best of my knowledge, there's no tradition or practice of eating horsement in the UK. Folks from there can correct me.

Some of the horses, not groomed for the dinner table, have tested positive for equine meds that are harmful to humans.

IMO, what's happened in this instance is a bad thing.

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Thanks. All the reports I have read have been pretty sketchy and full of OMG! style reporting.

It was only today that I finally learned that there was a question about the meds given the horses and the possible effects on humans.

I agree that this was a bad thing and has been handled badly.

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I have no problem with eating horse meat. In fact, it is a favourite.

However, I would have a problem with purchasing what I was lead to believe was one type of meat only to discover that I had been sold another. It is fraud.

And of course. I prefer not to eat horse medicine.

The only good thing that might come out of this eventually is that people might become less dependent on processed meat products and start using real butchers again.

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

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I'm not understanding why eating horsemeat is a bad thing. Of course, it should be noted on the packaging and not sneaked into the product.

I was under the impression (perhaps mistakenly) that horsemeat is sold in France.

In a lot of countries (not just France) horse meat is sold openly, and isn't regarded as unusual (e.g. in Italian supermarkets, packets of horse bresaola sit beside the ones made from cows, it's just one more type of sandwich meat). I've eaten it, it's fine, tastes a bit like beef, a little sweeter. Have to say my feelings on horse meat itself are essentially neutral.

It was fraudulently sold as beef.

Horsemeat is sold for consumption in other places that aren't the UK. To the best of my knowledge, there's no tradition or practice of eating horsement in the UK. Folks from there can correct me.

Some of the horses, not groomed for the dinner table, have tested positive for equine meds that are harmful to humans.

IMO, what's happened in this instance is a bad thing.

Horse meat as such shouldn't be much of problem, since over the millennia, people all over the world have cheerfully eaten it (including in the UK, e.g. "They eat horses, don't they?" Susanna Forrest, The Telegraph, 13 January 2013). Mislabelling it – I wish this went without saying – is clearly unethical, as well as illegal.

On the other hand, the presence of drugs harmful to humans is a significant problem, and if the animals in question were not raised for consumption, that's a legitimate and reasonable cause for concern (but this is a broad issue that is hardly exclusive to horse meat).

Michaela, aka "Mjx"
Manager, eG Forums
mscioscia@egstaff.org

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Responding to the OP - no, I've not eaten any of the products so far discovered to be part of what appears to be a large scale criminal act of deception. Most of the products are low end stuff that I wouldnt be touching with the proverbial barge pole. If I want lasagne, I go and buy mince, lasagne sheets, etc and make one.

John Hartley

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Thanks, Harters. From the news today, testing continues, and horsemeat was found in cottage pies prepared for schools and hospitals. I had been thinking that industrial canteen type operations would be a likely user of what was offered as an inexpensive beef product.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/feb/15/horsemeat-school-hospital-meals

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The BBC had an interesting article comparing the horsemeat fraud to the sub-prime crisis that triggered our current economical problems.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21463838

As most will remember that was when good quality financial products were "packaged" with very poorly performing ones, but overall rated as good as the best they included and sold as such. One S&P analyst - who are now being sued for those misleading ratings - is even quoted as e-mailing: "We rate every deal. It could be structured by cows and we would rate it."

Well it turns out that the problem is these same analysts are the ones running the big agro and food business too.

This map showing the complex network behind a frozen lasagna makes it even clearer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/panels/13/feb/horsemeatroute/img/graphic_1360859117.gif

How can the most cost effective method of making a cheap lasagna be a French manufacturer ordering from another French meat processor that in turn orders the meat from a subcontractor in Cyprus, who then orders the meat from a Dutch trader, who then actually buys it from Romanian abattoirs?

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the horse meat in those pies had to be cheaper by a fair amount to 100 % beef, or it would not be in there.

Ive had horse meat in FR. It was a much redder color raw than beef and it is sweeter. Its not bad, but i wouldnt seek it out.

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How can the most cost effective method of making a cheap lasagna be a French manufacturer ordering from another French meat processor that in turn orders the meat from a subcontractor in Cyprus, who then orders the meat from a Dutch trader, who then actually buys it from Romanian abattoirs?

I suppose it is similar to the legal scam that allows the likes of Starbucks, Amazon & Google to avoid paying tax in the UK on their UK operations by routing much of the business through what are, effectively, dummy companies in other countries.

John Hartley

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The scandal is all over the news in The Netherlands as well, but barely any suspicious products have been returned to the vendors. People are upset that their food contains something different than was communicated and of course horses are noble animals that are not regular consumed. At least that's what the majority thinks, but no one ever checks the ingredients of the very populair kroketten and bitterballen. These are advertised in the supermarkets specifically as horse free, but the ones sold in (snack)bars and restaurant do contain them. Nobody ever seems to wonder about those though, while the frikandel (another snack) has been subject of jokes containing everything from cow's eyes to god knows what. A bitterbal or kroket in the supermarket will not sell well if it states containing horse meat.

The most popular horse product sold as such is probably paardenworst, a sausage. Horse steak has some fans, but it's not readily available. Except for that one famous beef steak joint, that now points an accusing finger at the trader who points right back that they must have known they were selling horse steaks all along.

I've sampled one of the products that is under suspicion, although it was many years ago. I don't eat meat a lot and tend to avoid the really cheap meat containing products all together. I did find the suspicious 1 euro lasagne a whole lot more palatable than the 3 or 4 euro costing lasagne by the same supermarket.

As a horse lover, having trained and worked on a competitive level, phenylbutazone was the first thing that came to mind. Although prohibited since many years, it's still being used. I haven't seen any publication about quantities though and I wonder if they properly check for forbidden substances like this. Some horse meat sellers pointed out that horse meat is a lot healthier, because they're not produced for consuming and don't get antibiotics and such, which is a recquirement when producing on a mass scale I guess. In my opinion this is a ridiculous statement, but that's because I've seen and worked with sport horses that tend to get more care and substances to push their boundairies. These are the horses that end up at the butchers too, among the more recreational used horses.

The average age of a horse in The Netherlands is just 12 years old, which is way too young in my opinion as they can reach an age up to 30 years. With the economy being down, I guess only top of the crop can get picked and the rest ends up being a very cheap meat.

A Dutch tv show that investigates the food industry aired an episode where it showed that many Dutch horses end up at a Belgian market. From there the meat travels as far as Japan, where pony's are considered a specialty. I've yet have to come across a my little pony steak in The Netherlands though.

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It sounds as if one would have to dine nearly exclusively on horse meat that was contaminated with phenylbutazone that had been administered in massive quantities in over to show side effects caused by other NSAIDs that are used for humans. Phenylbtutazone was originally developed for use in humans in the late 40s, but is no longer prescribed.

The spotlight should be on the mislabeling firstly.

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Hmm - to beef or not to beef - that is equestrian?


I have eaten horse in France willingly. I have also been served beef in France that was horse as the taste is a little different.

Like Harters, I don’t have any problem with eating horse and I rarely eat a ready made meal. Any minced beef I buy is from the butchers where I (hope) that it has been produced from the
cow. But there is always that element of doubt, unless you make your own minced beef as Liuzhou does.


My Dad as a lad in the 1940’s, used to know of someone who would catch and kill cats and then sell them skinned and jointed as rabbit as apparently the bone structure and taste are similar. This was during the war when meat was scarce. As a consequence, I always buy my rabbits complete with head and fur.

For me it is not the scandal of eating horse, but the deception that is the issue. I am a little disappointed that the Supermarkets are not obviously carrying out their own batch testing on the products they are selling.

http://www.thecriticalcouple.co.uk

Latest blog post - Oh my - someone needs a spell checker

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It sounds as if one would have to dine nearly exclusively on horse meat that was contaminated with phenylbutazone that had been administered in massive quantities in over to show side effects caused by other NSAIDs that are used for humans. Phenylbtutazone was originally developed for use in humans in the late 40s, but is no longer prescribed.

The spotlight should be on the mislabeling firstly.

Of course you might have phenylbutazone allergy and you wouldn't be expecting it to be an issue when you ate your burger.

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The problem with this is that you can get a similar range of side effects from every day drugs. As always it is impact -v- likelihood.

My issue with the references to phenylbutazone is that it is a 'red herring'. If it is present all it shows is that the quality of the horse was not great! The real issue here is that people were paying for beef and were getting something cheaper that they did not want.

Andrew

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My main beef with the issue (groan) is the complete failure of a documented supply chain.

It's not just fraudulent use of horse instead of beef, it's the risk of phenylbutazone, other medication, and the fact no one knows if its a healthy safely slaughtered horse, a knackered drug loaded race horse, or the 6 week old maggot ridden carcass of a horse pulled out of a waterlogged ditch somewhere in Romania. It also puts into question the origin of all supermarket meat and processed meat, not just beef. Hell, no ones tested for cat, dog and rat DNA have they, and although it never made mainstream news, if collagen farmed from executed Chinese prisoner's skin worked its way into the western beauty industry, what happened to the rest of the prisoner?

Whilst my local butcher displays the location of the farm, the breed, the day of slaughter and even ear tag number, I must admit I used to buy at supermarkets as well, had the odd bit of comfort food (Fray Bentos pies, ready meals, tins of ravioli and spaghetti) and would enjoy the odd fast food takeaway every now and then. Now I'm having to change my buying and eating habits to remove those altogether.

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