findus!

[Trinity Fox]

On a more serious note than my first post what would worry me is as I have read the meat has been imported so do we really want to be eating meat that has probably been travelled and possibly not been treated in a very humane way.

I would not choose to eat horse meat, however if people choose to do so it should be by choice and we should know it's source, and to be frank after the footage that came to light recently any meat even slaughtered in this country does not really appeal to me that much.

I was a really big meat eater and I eat very little now only because of how most of it is raised kept and then travelled and slaughtered, if you invite me to dinner and you shot it yourself great.

I really admire people who keep there own pigs etc, I just know I would end up with ancient pigs and sheep I never ate, and to be honest these supermarkets really are taking a liberty the amount of money they make this really should not be happening, I feel they chose to turn a blind eye and their excuses are not good enough.

 

[CorvusCorax]

CC - that was my first thought too.

Do they even still make crispy pancakes? I've not had one for donkeys............

Tell me they don't contain donkeys.......

I ate donkey in Sardinia

 

[mon]

As a livestock farmer after all regulations we go through how can another species appear in beef lamb or pork labelled products, if you buy meat products can understand it, trade descriptions health safety and knowing what you are buying. We do try have own lamb and pork and beef from friends bullock. Our horses wont be going in food chain as buried and will be buried in field.

 

[ladyt25]

I think the thing that actually concerns and worries me more is, as there seems to be NO regulation at all like there is with other livestock, is it stolen horses that potentially end up here? That's terrifying if passports are not being requested/checked. Or, as someone said, is this imported horses meat, in which case the welfare standards may have been dreadful

 

[Spit That Out]

to be honest i dont really mind what meat is in my food just as long as it is safe for human consumption and they actually TELL me it's in there!

Agree with this...

 

[Fransurrey]

On a more serious note than my first post what would worry me is as I have read the meat has been imported so do we really want to be eating meat that has probably been travelled and possibly not been treated in a very humane way.

I would not choose to eat horse meat, however if people choose to do so it should be by choice and we should know it's source, and to be frank after the footage that came to light recently any meat even slaughtered in this country does not really appeal to me that much.

I was a really big meat eater and I eat very little now only because of how most of it is raised kept and then travelled and slaughtered, if you invite me to dinner and you shot it yourself great.

I really admire people who keep there own pigs etc, I just know I would end up with ancient pigs and sheep I never ate, and to be honest these supermarkets really are taking a liberty the amount of money they make this really should not be happening, I feel they chose to turn a blind eye and their excuses are not good enough.

People who are even slightly concerned about eating meat from poor welfare standards should look up the Earthlings video, an award winning film about the treatment of animals. It starts with puppy farms, but moves on to food animals. If you can get further than 30 minutes you have a very strong disposition indeed.

Can't remember who asked, "Who would eat this crap?", but when you have no money, you eat what you can afford. When I was a kid we were dirt poor. My mum skipped meals for years just to feed us and dinner of Findus pancakes and a spoonful of value beans wasn't uncommon. They were rank then and I wouldn't touch them now, but they are dirt cheap. I shudder to think what was in those 'boil in the bag' meals we used to have. Things like that are what make me terrified of being poor ever again!

 

[Sussexbythesea]

Anyone remember the film Soylent Green?

Where nobody realised they were eating .... people!

I wonder if it's been tested for human DNA

 

[lazybee]

I'm waiting for something to turn up in the 'vegetarian' foods next.....

What like vegetable soup, with traces of wheelchair?


Couldn't resist.........sorry.

 

[Blitzen]

Sussexbythesea LOL

Hang on a minute, had a thought - those pies I bought from the barber might not really be steak and kidney?! Come to think of it, his name is Mr Todd

 

[lazybee]

Back to serious for a minute. What should be of concern is, that here in France for example our leisure horses have 'not to enter the food chain' stipulations in their passports. This current horse meat scandal is obviously criminal activity. For example with a horse that's been prescribed bute they are not allowed to enter the food chain. I don't think too many mafia types have the morals required to check food safety. So what chemicals and drugs have we been eating for god knows how long.

 

[Landcruiser]

Mr Todd! Lol.

 

[Welly]

What worries me is what is in this meat Antibiotics, Bute, Steroids? And where did it come from! How was it killed? And don't think for one moment that this outcry will improve the end of our horses , our government will change the rules that will make it more difficult for the good horse keeper, but will allow the rouges to get away with it. Look at the passport system!

 

[Double_choc_lab]

I'm sure we would all like to buy from our local butcher and cook from raw but I'm afraid it's just not practical for a large proportion of people. Not everyone has the time to cook from raw and not everyone can afford local butchers prices. Also what about schools, hospitals, prisons who have to feed huge numbers of people - usually done by using processed meats. What about meals on wheels - aren't these usually frozen processed meals which are just "popped" into the microwave.

How many of us know exactly what is being used in the local pub or restaurant. Fine if you're paying high prices with a top chef but I bet most of the "chain" style pubs use processed meat as well.

I just hope that this has huge repercussions for the passporting system. When I think of the drugs my mare has received over the last 18 months I shudder at the thought of someone later down the line getting her a false passport so she could go for meat.

 

[SaharaS]

If horse meat was eaten as a regular thing in this country, then the regulation of horses going into the food chain would be as stringent as any other livestock. This would actually mean there was some point to the ruddy passport system. If you keep animals which are normally used for meat, they must have tags, you must have a holding number and you must register their presence with the LA. If the same applied to horses, then the over breeding etc would stop.

I keep sheep & other livestock that are required to have a holding number and be registered, it costs nothing but a phone call to request and the price of a tagger & ear tags if stock is not already tagged..I have previously also kept a herd of wild animals ,kept as wild as physically possible,that required a license and specific living arrangements (public safety reasons as field edged along a public lane with a footpath the oposite end of the field ..oh and a neighbours property at the far end...none of this was a problem to set up, arrange or deal with..much less so than our all important,yet seemingly worthless horse passports. If someone was setting this up to trade in horse then there will be financial gain so it will be even less of a problem..the real problem,I feel, lies in that the majority of this meat will have entered the food chain illegally or via the black market-what made me feel sick was the post in the other thread about chicken/cat meat. I used to request chicken breast for takeaway curry but many dishes it would trully be unrecognisable..and as others pointed out it could have been 0 chicken & a good mix of eel & cat. As a child I remember an outcry & investigation to numerous takeaway restaurants of the Chiinese/Indian variety being mixed up in a scam involving spates of missing cats & dogs in the area and traces had been found - sadly I think it was more than traces & other evidence. These people were not of our race or belief & it was nothing to them to eat something we consider a pet.Its only really the UK that has issue with horse & after being advised by my bf not to eat red meat burgers in a continental MacDonalds, I often wondered how this could be so within a chain..would be far to easy to keep the profits rising - how would anyone know? Ans as for industry spot checks? we've all been in or heard of situations where things are not quite right but glossed over as a friend dealt with it..or some cash was involved..people have no morals very often where financial gain is involved.

Whilst I understand other people's views on eating horse meat, and the benefits that can come from it. I personally couldn't eat it, I've spent so much time around horses and I know how intelligent (most of the time ) they are which would make eating them hard. I mean they form bonds with each other and humans, I'd find it hard to look at Sandy everyday knowing that I'm eating his species and other horses like him, who are equally as capable of intelligence and love as he is.
I personally couldn't do it, then again Sandy is more of a pet to me and as oppose to something which is there to serve a purpose or as livestock.

Still, I'm not opposed to others eating it and I understand the potential benefits if it were introduced

I do agree about the bonding between horse & owner, but I have goats that assist me to round up my sheep,each taking on a specific role with out being asked & very effectively so..they seem to know when the sheep need reining in & are quick to give them a 'reality check' up the backside when they aren't compliant.. my sheep equally all have very individual personalities & have a very strong bond with every one of my flock of both species and one that is closely comparable with any bond you could have with a horse-just the same as you will bond with dogs, it is possible with any animal that you spend enough time with -feral cats being a prime example..this includes the wild 'dangerous' stock i mentioned above too..which the farm hands would only attend from certain farm machinery, vets included, yet I was close enough with them to be able to comfortably go in on foot & could do anything with them..admittedly them showing affection could be hairy at times,due to their sheer size & strength so a sensible approach was always safest but I'm trying to get across that even wild animals can show incredible trust & emotion & affection...given time.I'm trying to remain semi anonymous so for purposes of google searches if anyone desperately wants to know what species they were thats for pm only but happy to discuss them privately..I would be too easily recogniseable in RL to post so apologies for being vague..needless to say not one of them have or will ever end up in the food chain..guaranteed.

Another thing that concerns me is the rates at which humans have been affected by disease increasing so commonly now to when I was a child even a teen.. I'm 29 plus vat now..baring in mind the carcinogens that can be freely found in Bakers dog food for example and what we now know about molasses etc..whats to say the inclusion of black market meats in our food chain, from animals not intended for human consumption,which will have had bute,anti biotics, steroids..has this not played a large part in the increase in these terrible diseases that every one of us on here will have lost a friend or loved one to??? I would be very surprised if it hasn't...very sad indeed when we valued our so called trusted food & safety standards & quality and put our trust in these companies & individuals who could be slowly poisoning us for their own financial gains..i hope they sleep well at night

Sorry...epic rant over!

ETS the pub in the village used our owning the wild animals as a marketting ploy as they did attract alot of interest from walkers & people would drive out specifically to see them which did the pub great favours..they soon started selling saussages apparently from the same species after many customers had asked..and would even label them on the menu as local...but bare in mind that some of the stock were late teens and only died to illness or old age...and the stock we bred were either sold to another part of the country or passed to a relative with the same species..that way nothing inbred as we swapped or sold...and only to other eccentrics so none of them were ever more than wild pets..I wonder if those burgers/sausages were horse instead..who would have known!

 

[mcnaughty]

I do believe this is only the very start of this news story..... By the time they check every single meat product I believe we all may well be reeling from the results! Its all very well us meat eaters saying or even thinking that "its only the cheap products" - think about this one - have you ever been to a pub or restaurant and had what you thought was a beef lasagne or a spag bol or a burger or a pie? The ripples of this one are endless.

I do, however, believe that the passport system will be clamped down on. Vets, as we all know, are supposed to add bute to a passport and that horse MUST be taken out of the human food chain. I have never had this written in my passports - have you?? Also, how many of you have worked at yards or riding schools where a stock of bute is held and these are used on random animals as and when they go lame/come in a bit stiff or even have a hard day out hunting and you just "pop one in the feed just in case"?? I know this happens a LOT!

Hopefully this will have good repurcussions for equines but also think it might be a bit of a pain in the bum for us and the vets!!

As for eating horse - not bothered personally. I just want to make sure that whatever I am feeding myself and my family is safe!

 

[Kat]

Or eaten the food on a flight...... or in a school canteen.......

And even those of us who don't buy burgers or ready meals, how do we know that the mince we are buying (even if from the butcher) is what we think it is? How many people buy a joint of beef and mince it themselves? Even then, would they know if they were sold a similar looking cut of horse meat instead? I suspect that unless you are a butcher you would be unlikely to know. The only way to really know is to buy a carcass and butcher it yourself or witness someone butchering it.....

 

[Firewell]

Just to think we spend all this time agonising over what to feed our horses, trying to keep the feed as natural and as high in fibre as possible.
All the while we are merrily chundering down horse, cat whatever all probably illegally sourced and laced with chemicals. No wonder cancer is so rife.
This horsemeat revelation is just one thing. What else is going into our foods and for how long.
It is really disgusting and it is frightening to think how we are being misled every day.
With regards to the horsemeat being imported this gived me a tiny amount of comfort. If the horse meat came from France where they eat it all the time I would at least hope the meat came from a properly regulated source.
Its the poor buted up scrawny beasts going through the British sales and ending up in my burger that worries me the most!

 

[Shysmum]

Well at least it's now being seen as "criminal activity". The mind boggles, this can only be the tip of a very large iceberg.

 

[Luci07]

Well I only eat vegetarian on flights after the outcry about Halal meat!

 

[Onyxia]

If horse meat was eaten as a regular thing in this country, then the regulation of horses going into the food chain would be as stringent as any other livestock. This would actually mean there was some point to the ruddy passport system. If you keep animals which are normally used for meat, they must have tags, you must have a holding number and you must register their presence with the LA. If the same applied to horses, then the over breeding etc would stop.

We do have a surplus of some native ponies, many of which come to a nasty end.
Perhaps looking at the excess Welsh ponies as livestock to be used for food would solve a few problems.

I certainly think the question of consumption of horse meat needs discussing,we have an over abundance of horses and a shortage of affordable meat.

 

[patchwork puzzle]

me too, next thing though we'll find out its in vege burgers too !

I used to be a veggie when I was a child, and have to say that would be beyond appalling if that came to light!

 

[micki]

I'm sure we would all like to buy from our local butcher and cook from raw but I'm afraid it's just not practical for a large proportion of people. Not everyone has the time to cook from raw and not everyone can afford local butchers prices. Also what about schools, hospitals, prisons who have to feed huge numbers of people - usually done by using processed meats. What about meals on wheels - aren't these usually frozen processed meals which are just "popped" into the microwave.

How many of us know exactly what is being used in the local pub or restaurant. Fine if you're paying high prices with a top chef but I bet most of the "chain" style pubs use processed meat as well.

I just hope that this has huge repercussions for the passporting system. When I think of the drugs my mare has received over the last 18 months I shudder at the thought of someone later down the line getting her a false passport so she could go for meat.

My local butcher is no dearer than the supermarket for their meat and it tastes loads better. I will not eat processed muck as it tastes rubbish so i make time to cook from scratch. If that means cooking and batch and freezing then i will do that. It hardly takes any longer and tastes 100 times better. Schools used to cook from scratch but they have got rid of the cooks now. Perhaps it's time they were re-employed. As for prisons they can keep having the crap.
Eating out i can't afford so that doesn't come into it so i make sure i have good food at home and processed rubbish so i know what i am eating.
My horses will not be entering the food chain so it doesn't matter what drugs they need but i know what you mean about the passport system, it is a farse.

 

[Cortez]

Well, do any of us know what's actually in our food? Even standing in the butcher's, do you know which animal that piece of meat is from? Unless you raise it yourself, cook it yourself, none of us really know. The very thought of what goes into sausages makes me come over all faint.

 

[Polos Mum]

And even those of us who don't buy burgers or ready meals, how do we know that the mince we are buying (even if from the butcher) is what we think it is? ..

Mince is my concern ! We rarely eat ready meals but buy a lot of mince - I genuinely think we'll be buying recognisable joints and mincing them ourselves from now. I'm not anti horse meat at all (it's low fat. high in vits etc.) and I don't eat cows because I don't like them.

BUT - I do want to know that it's not filled with bute, steroids etc. as could easily be the case if it's bypassed all normal proceedures.

Also what about restaurants and take aways - they could be buying their meat from anywhere? It's a nightmare for the insustry if they loose customer confidence in such a big way

 

[PandorasJar]

Agree micki. It works put the same or cheaper through my butchers or local farm when you work out actual meat weight. And meat isn't necessary in every meal which cuts costs down. Its not that time consuming and as you say easily frozen. As for trusting what is in my freezer, I can name nearly every animal and I can sure as hell taste the difference between a lump or pig and a lump of horse.

I do totally agree that this shouldn't have happened on the medical side though. Passport system is ridiculous.

 

[Polos Mum]

The very thought of what goes into sausages makes me come over all faint.

We do breed our own pigs and make our own sausages (well butcher does but we take the carcus there and pay him well so no reason to believe he'd fiddle us)

Demand for our weaners was high last year as lots of people wanted two to take home bring on and pop in the freezer, I suspect with all the current news this year they will be even more popular !!

 

[PandorasJar]

I am also lucky to have sausages I can name both the sheep and the pigs they've come from. Don't add anything, including Rusk and it's amazing how much less you eat to feel full.

I occassionally eat the grimmest of meat foods (fish and chip sausage) but am fully aware of the likely lack of meat and addition of things I would rather not have. More than the other meat in these foods to be worrying me is the chemicals we know are added in! How many people actually read ingredients on these boxes because reading the burger ingredients we used to cook up at a paintball centre was enough to put me off, without hiding anything. 4% of one meat, couple of other percentages of meat and a huge list of unpronouncable chemicals.

 

[PandorasJar]

PM. What do you use as a skin?

 

[Amaranta]

Tell you what, its gonna be a great thing for the horse, now someone might realize what a farce the passport system is and how lapse it is...

My thoughts exactly, this could be a blessing in disguise tbh. I also hope it might do more to bring live transport into the spotlight.

That said, so very glad that I don't buy my meat from supermarkets

 

[Polos Mum]

PM. What do you use as a skin?

I will certainly be asking the butcher when this years batch go !!!!! It's a local on the farm butcher that sells their own (bred on the farm) cows and sheep - so I hope something sensible !!

When we first started 4 years ago I was amazed by the fact that when you cook them NO fat comes out, we pop them in the over in a tray and nothing comes out.

Same with the bacon, when I'm elsewhere and see it cooked and all that water and white scum stuff comes out it makes me really wonder what's in it to make it cook like that, and it shrinks to half the size.