[Curlyben]

Has anyone been following the UK "scandal" of processed beef products containing, up to, 100% HORSE meat?

Q&A: Horsemeat scandal


Continue reading the main story
Horsemeat scandal

• Table of withdrawn products
• Horsemeat: Good news for butchers?
• Why horsemeat revolts Britons
• How damaging to meat industry?

The government has said thall processed beef products on sale in the UK are safe to eat despite up to 100% horsemeat being found in some Aldi and Findus products, which were removed from shelves last week. That followed the discovery of horsemeat in some burgers.

BBC News - Q&A: Horsemeat scandal
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21457188


What are you thoughts?

[tomder55]

Has anyone been following the UK "scandal" of processed beef products containing, up to, 100% HORSE meat?

Neigh

[tomder55]

I had horse burgers when I was a kid. Would not had known the difference if I wasn't told . With some of the Brit recipes I've experienced ,it's possible that horse meat would be an improvement .

[speechlesstx]

I don't eat horse meat but a lot of people do. But don't call it "beef," that's just wrong. How did they find out, did someone's Big Mac whinny?

[speechlesstx]

neigh

Lol

[paraclete]

Perish the though we should talk about the events in another place. Must be a slow day.

I have eaten horse meat, wouldn't do it for preference anymore than I would eat Kangaroo. It has a very obvious flavour and texture. Used to feed it a lot to dogs.

The brits would eat anything, it is expensive to live there

[NeedKarma]

neigh

Well played sir. :D Greenie for you.

[tickle]

I don't eat horse meat but a lot of people do. But don't call it "beef," that's just wrong. How did they find out, did someone's Big Mac whinny?

They found out by DNA testing

[tickle]

perish teh though we should talk about the events in another place. Must be a slow day.

I have eaten horse meat, wouldn't do it for preference anymore than I would eat Kangaroo. It has a very obvious flavour and texture. Used to feed it a lot to dogs.

The brits would eat anything, it is expensive to live there

That is the kind of response I would expect from anyone you. You have done yourself proud.

[tickle]

Yes, CB, have been following it here. The French consider it a delicacy. So the use is not new of course, but UK problem is so wide spread it is alarming.

I hope it doesn't catch on here, with our horse racing industry going down the tubes because of high feed prices, we may be consuming some of Northern Dancer's offspring soon.

[paraclete]

That is the kind of response I would expect from anyone you. You have done yourself proud.

I remember my time in the UK fondly, couldn't afford decent cuts of meat or even a hamburger, actually I might have settled for horse meat.

Where I come from horse meat is only available as dog food these days, special abbatoirs for those kinds of meat, but we know that in Europe horse meat is a delicacy, but not in the UK apparently, but you can't trust those frogs, they will serve up anything

[tickle]

Horses, young or old nowadays at auction, if not taken are sold so much for the pound and taken to the abbatoirs. I should correct that really, they always were because no one wanted to keep them and feed them to be sold leisurely.

Canadian wild horses are rounded up now and sent to the abbatoirs; especially for human consumption in Quebec and Europe.

[tomder55]

If someone has a palatable recipe I'd be willing to try it . The price is right .
U.S. horses sold for $50 for food

[tickle]

You couldn't tell the different really in taste between cow and horse. It is cooked much the same way; horsemeat is not gamey, and usually much more tender then cow.

Yes, unfortunately the price is too right for people who love horses. If you ever saw how they were led into a stainless steel stall by a person they trust, don't forget they are somewhat smarter then cattle, a person is waiting at the top of the stall with something similar to a nail gun. You can imagine the rest.

[speechlesstx]

It has been an issue in Texas for several years, when the packing plants closed here the horses were exported to Mexico and Canada. The American Quarter Horse Association (headquartered right here in my home town and also the home of "pink slime") argues it's a necessity " for horses that might otherwise continue a life of discomfort and pain, or inadequate care or abandonment."

Veterinarian and cowboy humorist Baxter Black has the right perspective on the issue.

On the Edge of Common Sense
By Baxter Black

Continuing saga of abandoned horses

I had a visit with the president of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) recently about the abandoned horse issue. My question to him was, “Since the problem is a direct result of the banning of equine slaughter plants, for which your group led the charge, what are you willing to do to help those of us who have inherited the responsibility for the mess you have made?”

We discussed the woefully inadequate plan to put them in “refuges.” We both agreed that euthanasia is not a bad thing, but dumping your unwanted horse along the roadside, in private pastures or on park land to die of starvation is not humane.

We considered having equine animal shelters, like dog pounds. Maybe one in every state that would accept horses at no charge, hold them for 30 days in hopes they could be adopted, then euthanasia. The facility should include a free pick-up service, a large “feedlot” to hold them and a rendering plant. He did not readily agree that his group would finance this national program. But they are the richest animal rights group in the world and what better way, I thought, to put their money where their convictions are.

The HSUS has made legitimate criticism of how some horses destined for distant slaughter plants in Canada and Mexico are transported. We livestock people are responsible for the animals in our care from conception until death. We cannot turn a blind eye to double-decked trucks, too-long hauls and mistreatment. The Departments of Transportation and Agriculture should have laws that guarantee the horses’ well-being. We should ensure their enforcement.

It’s good that we are talking, but this winter the public’s awareness of the problem, and their deeper understanding of the cause, seems to be lifting the veil of the ignorance which often blinds the naïve but well-meaning, be they horse lovers, politicians or journalists. Starving horses are not a pretty sight.

Three states, with more to come, North Dakota, Wyoming and Montana, are taking steps to examine the construction of horse slaughter plants to replace the ones the animal righters have had banned in Texas and Illinois. The day these new plants open up, the abandoned horse problem, with all its unintended abuse, will disappear. There would be a place for them to go.

There are several groups scrabbling around for answers this cold winter to save unwanted horses from the misjudgment of these well-intentioned but irresponsible “animal lovers.” I hear from them regularly. I suggest if you are one of these sale barn operators, ranchers, park rangers, farmers or rural residents who have inherited the problem, take photos of the horses, good or bad, that have been dumped in your area. Then when a new state applies for a permit to build a new horse slaughter plant and the animal rights groups protest, we will have an entire “Gallery of Abandoned Horses” to show the public the inhumanity of their policy. These photos would be very convincing. Our facts versus their perception. Of course, we could put pictures of abandoned horses on milk cartons with the caption “Brought to you by HSUS, PETA and the ‘Frenchmen Should Not Eat Horsemeat Society!’”

Just don't call it beef. We don't much like the idea of eating our horses in these parts.

[tickle]

I don't much like the issue either, we don't like eating horses 'in these parts'.

Unfortunately here in Ontario, it is near impossible to feed horses if you own and breed them. It used to cost $800 per month to feed hay to about five horses, now it costs $2000 a month. With the possible demise of the horse racing industry here in Ontario, harness racing, etc. owners of good bloodlines are having to make some tough choices while trying to find homes for them to people who can afford to care for them; rather them make the ultimate decision.

I live in an area of southeast Ontario where horses are a way of life still and I know for sure I would not want to make decisions like this.

Tick, a horse lover

[tomder55]

I am conflicted because I have seen the pixs of horses who's owners recently have stopped feeding them because of the explosion in the price of hay .
Abandoned: Horse Abuse a Growing Problem

Couple that with the fact that the wild horse population has exploded ,and the Bureau of Land Management culls the herds ,perhaps they are an option as a food source... much like the White Tail deer is here (or should be ) .

[speechlesstx]

Better to have FDA regulated slaughter of such horses for food?

[tickle]

Canadian wild horses are not considered, and are not advertised as a food source here. I have never heard of horses being shipped overseas for food from the US but then, that would not necessarily be newsworthy here.

[tomder55]

I hear someone was hospitalized after eating the horse meat... but the good news is that he's in stable condition... and other Twitter puns :

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...witter-1537054