Anyone hear radio 4 programme re food industry

[ribbons]

Caught it by chance today at 5pm. Very interesting and very worrying facts revealed about various awful practices that go on.
One interesting point though was the fact that the slaughter of horses in the uk has dropped by 50% since the horse meat scandel. The conclusion drawn by the programme was that an awful lot of British horses were making their way illegally into the human food chain. That is something that was widely suspected, but, 50% !!!!!!!!
Those sort of numbers certainly shocked me.

 

[Alan's mum]

I didn't hear it but I'm not in the least surprised, those sort of figures would ring true with the increase of Fly-grazing during the same period.

Food for thought ( pardon the pun )

 

[popsdosh]

Caught it by chance today at 5pm. Very interesting and very worrying facts revealed about various awful practices that go on.
One interesting point though was the fact that the slaughter of horses in the uk has dropped by 50% since the horse meat scandel. The conclusion drawn by the programme was that an awful lot of British horses were making their way illegally into the human food chain. That is something that was widely suspected, but, 50% !!!!!!!!
Those sort of numbers certainly shocked me.

There was no reason those horses could not go into the food chain as long as it was correctly labelled what is peoples hang up with this! If it was more common it would cut out a lot of the welfare issues in horses that you do not see in meat animals.

 

[ribbons]

I think you've missed my point.

 

[Alec Swan]

I'm wondering if the real reason for the 50% drop in the number of animals going to slaughter, was because 50% of the country's equine abattoirs was closed! QED!

I do see the point of your post, but wonder at the thinking behind the radio statement.

Alec.

 

[ribbons]

Could be the reason Alec, but have we lost that many abattoirs in the last two years. I thought most of those closures occurred well before that.
If the figures given on the programme were remotely correct it seems unlikely that a 50% drop in horse slaughter at the very time of the horse meat scandel could be down to anything other than that.
The slaughter figures had been steadily growing during the previous 5 years.

The horse meat issue was just part of the programme. It was about our food industry generally. I found it very interesting, and somewhat worrying in areas I hadn't previously been concerned about.

I am a techno idiot, but if its possible to listen to it again, it was on Sunday 2nd Feb, radio 4, 5pm.
If anyone is interested.

 

[em mcb]

but if its possible to listen to it again, it was on Sunday 2nd Feb, radio 4, 5pm.
If anyone is interested.

Thanks, will look it up online, really interested to hear it.

 

[Alec Swan]

ribbons,

as far as I know, there were only two operational equine abattoirs in England, and The Red Lion up near Chesterfield (I think!) was investigated for irregularities, and what appeared to be such blatant disregard for the handling conditions of horses at the point of slaughter, that it was closed down.

There are certainly more than two Abattoirs which retain licences to slaughter horses, but beyond the two mentioned above, the rest are moth-balled, presumably in the belief that one day, there may be a return of business.

Perhaps sadly(!), the subject is something of a pet of mine, and how I wish that we could put pressures upon the welfare groups to, in turn put pressure on to Government, to face the reality of our equine crisis, encourage the opening of, the inspected, and the ethical management of an equine slaughter system which would give animals a commercial value, encourage their appropriate maintenance, and so in turn, relieve the monstrous pressures that our current head-in-the-sand approach is delivering.

I've tried but meet a level of apathy which would simply translate that those involved in "Welfare" should really consider their very being.

Alec.

ps. my apologies for the aside!! a.