Horse Meat Scandal - Accountability!!

[Hunters]

Am I the only one to be deeply disappointed that food/meat has not been tested for approximately 10 years?

Why is this?? Why has no one been looking after the food of our nation?

Why don't giants such as Tesco, The Restaurant Group et al employ food testers?

 

[Pale Rider]

Apparently, more testing will be done now, but this cost will be passed on to the consumer.

Tesco et al, cannot afford to test, obviously.

If you want to know what your eating, you should pay for the knowledge.

No need to know what you are selling though.

'Go to a family butcher, nothing like a nice piece of family.'

Interestingly, no one can say whether there is any rat, cat or dog in this mince as they have only tested for horse.

 

[SaharaS]

Unbelievable..
may I ask where this was sourced? and if not tested in 10 years..why is it that Defra/FSA have not if the stores have failed to do so? is this why farmers & small holders have such a tough time filling out so much paperwork so that no one else has to check it further down the line? I struggle with there being no checks and if its genuinely accurate,how this has been allowed to happen..no wonder this has happened

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Am I the only one to be deeply disappointed that food/meat has not been tested for approximately 10 years?

Why is this?? Why has no one been looking after the food of our nation?

Why don't giants such as Tesco, The Restaurant Group et al employ food testers?

No your not alone Hunters I feel the same.

 

[Hunters]

What I also find very disturbing, is how much the 'meat' travels, half way round the world before it even reaches a supermarket.

And why should the consumer pay for testing? These super enormous money making machines make huge sums of profit from us.

 

[SaharaS]

Interestingly, no one can say whether there is any rat, cat or dog in this mince as they have only tested for horse.

The rat/cat/dog could easily be in chicken mince tho or anything..'long pig' in bacon/pork dishes and chicken could equally be eel..that would explain the 'chickens being fed a fish based diet excuse'

sickening. I think they should test ALL meats. Its bad enough to think what they include in pre washed veg, chemical wise ..and the processes & chemicals for example used to prepare for example segmented grapefruits simply for the consumer to receive a 'clean' pith free fruit..let alone what goes into our food when we are led to believe otherwise. I feel this should stand for everything,let alone testing just minced products..again, I don't eat value food,but if they get away with it in that, what a marvellous profit they could make for selling it in place of prime cuts..tescos Finest...does that include TB steak?

 

[teacups]

The only one which has come out clean so far, I believe, is Morrison's.

They have their own farms and abbattoirs, and there was some interview with a meat delivery driver who delivers to all places, and said that Morrison's are notorious for being a pain as they insist on checking everything.

I don't eat meat, but I know their fresh fish and veg is good - and if they can manage to offer reasonably-priced meat & fresh products, I don't see why the other supermarkets would need to pass the cost on to the consumer.

 

[Alec Swan]

What I also find very disturbing, is how much the 'meat' travels, half way round the world before it even reaches a supermarket.

And why should the consumer pay for testing? These super enormous money making machines make huge sums of profit from us.

Para 1. Food has never beens so cheap. The large multifaceted companies, through competition have driven the cost of food down, to a level where the margins are measurable when buying by the ton, not by the item.

Para 2. Whether the consumer should pay for the services provided, is a moot point, they most certainly will though.

Alec.

 

[Maisie2]

To me the accountability has to be shared by not only the producers and retailers of these products but also, dare I say it, by people wanting cheap, cheap, cheap meat without any thought into where it has come from or how it is produced Apparently Waitrose as well as Morrisons have come out of this scandal with 'higher' standards than the other supermarkets, lucky for me as our local supermarket is Waitrose and Morrisons are hopefully opening a store quite close to me next year. I would think now is a good time for WHW to publicize yet again the appalling journeys many of these poor horses have to endure, although having signed many petitions over the years it probably still wouldn't have much effect.

 

[TrasaM]

I think that if the Irish authority had not identified the problem in Ireland that we would still be munching on horse and totally unaware this is happening. Hopefully it will make enough people care about what they are eating and where it comes from. Am shocked to hear that the FSA have not bothered to do any checks for so long!

 

[Spook]

To me the accountability has to be shared by not only the producers and retailers of these products but also, dare I say it, by people wanting cheap, cheap, cheap meat without any thought into where it has come from or how it is produced Apparently Waitrose as well as Morrisons have come out of this scandal with 'higher' standards than the other supermarkets, lucky for me as our local supermarket is Waitrose and Morrisons are hopefully opening a store quite close to me next year. I would think now is a good time for WHW to publicize yet again the appalling journeys many of these poor horses have to endure, although having signed many petitions over the years it probably still wouldn't have much effect.

It seems we cannot keep our own house in order (Britain)...... The WORLD H.W. have been bashing away at the transport issue for donkeys years to seemingly no avail. How daft is it that there are not adequate slaughter houses here..... not one is in Scotland

Is the issue transport distance? (for me it is), what do you all consider a appropriate distance?, the treatment of ALL animals prior to slaughter (for me it is)...... lableing lies, (yes again)....... OR is it the eating of horse that is the problem?

It sounds as if horses either have or are about to be banned from the public highways of Romania, this sort of legislation as well as the furore surrounding horse meat is going to result in horse welfare issues as yet unseen in recent times..... It really is time for the charities to get a grip...... if they will not openly support the slaughter houses here in Britain perhaps they should employ a few slaughtermen and build an incinerator, that way they would know all was as it should be and they would be ensuring better welfare alround. That way no one need feel guilty about the need to destroy a horse and they would not go into the downward spiral on the way to god knows where??????? and along the long hidden line, somewhere?, end up as mince in OUR pies.

 

[amandap]

How long has DNA testing been a viable option financially anyway? That's the only way to know what species we are eating.
I suspect we have been served horse as beef for many, many years. It's unlikely we will ever know the whole truth imo.

 

[BBH]

Stolen from another forum.

Another reason not to eat processed meat.

Quote ' I stopped buying cheap processed meat years ago after a few night shifts in a sausage factory...

I watched the night supervisor sweep up the factory floor and toss the contents of the dustpan back into the meat hopper

Somehow, I've never been able to bring myself to eat processed meat since. ' Quote

 

[Mellis]

People appear to want cheap, so the supermarkets supply. I never buy cheap ready made meals. I agree with supporting the local growers and butchers. I still see this as a 'blame society'. Where this meat was produced will probably consider it perfectly acceptable. Always check sources on packaged products or buy locally and avoid the supermarkets.

 

[firm]

M&S as well as Morrisons and Waitrose have come out clean so far.
In the original testing table I saw M&S's 100% british burger was the only one that actually was.
I read that FSA cannot investigate/test any EU meat product unless there is a good reason for it. I think this all kicked off when an environmental health officer noticed Polish meat products in Newry that were fraudulently labelled or not labelled and started to investigate. It was over 60% horsemeat.

 

[respectedpony driver]

I to think this has been going on for years and we will never know the extent.
What about the gelatin that seems to be in a lot of other products,I wonder if that is horse render?

 

[Hunters]

Sadly I am old enough to remember the CJD scare (otherwise known as Mad Cow Disease.)

Will it always be profit before care?

 

[sybaritelbee]

It seems as if Romania recently passed laws to prevent horses being driven/ridden on roads which accounts for the fall in value of horses there and one reason they were so readily available. Poor things.

 

[amandap]

A UK slaughterhouse has been raided and operations suspended! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21434077

 

[hackneylass2]

Dosn't surprise me.
Especially if the premises in question were not processing for human consumption.
Wonder how many more will come to light?

 

[NeverSayNever]

I find it interesting that bute has been found in the meat... except bute is not available/legal for use in Europe, and source is meant to be Romania? So either the bute used was illegal..or the source isnt Romania afterall...

 

[Wundahorse]

Para 1. Food has never beens so cheap. The large multifaceted companies, through competition have driven the cost of food down, to a level where the margins are measurable when buying by the ton, not by the item.

Para 2. Whether the consumer should pay for the services provided, is a moot point, they most certainly will though.

Alec.

It's no wonder some of our farmers are driven to the brink then if a lot of the meat in processed foods come from contaminated sources in Europe.Time for British farmers to promote their products.People need to consider the source of their food,ethically and otherwise,as well as accepting you have to pay reasonable prices for quality and surety of the product. I for one will never buy processed foods again,not that i often do.

 

[Echo Bravo]

Well I'm in my middle 60's and I remember when having chicken for Sunday lunch was a highlight and the lamb beef or pork was made to do 2 meals and nothing was wasted and a turkey for xmas well that made 2/3 meals as well(I make it last 2 days), but I also remember bacon ribs, homemade meat and potato pies and my stepfather's Walsh al carte which was a stew with left overs and rice with curry powder, you never knew how it would taste, but the bacon ribs with cabbage and chips was a family favortire.

 

[Orangehorse]

This is all - ahem - chickens coming home to roost and s/itting on the supermarket bosses.

Supermarkets drummed on about traceability for their produce. Cattle and lamb is identified, there are on farm inspections to see that we are looking after the animals up to standard (sigh) and trading standards ready to leap up if there is an ear tag missing. I am not saying that this is a bad thing, at least we can say that we are doing things correctly.

But it makes me give a very hollow laugh when the supermarkets are insisting that their farmer suppliers are doing one thing, and then letting the meat packers pull a fast one and adding horsemeat. No wonder it was thousands of pounds cheaper. Everyone wants cheaper food!

I daresay that those who were at the back of this adulturation had no idea that DNA tests can be carried out on meat samples.

 

[Alec Swan]

It wouldn't surprise me to learn that the DNA testing was at fault, and that it was in fact beef all along! Remember the positive FMD results, and it was then found out that many of those sheep slaughtered as infected, had in fact had an an allergic reaction to the disinfectant used in the transporters?

There is very little of our current system which is fit for purpose, from the idiots within the EU who hand down the pointless and conflicting regulations, to those Defra officials in Whitehall, who insist that those of us who farm comply with the daft directives, to those who are on the front line, Trading Standards, FSA and the RPA Inspectors who all seem bemused by conditions which they accept are pointless and unworkable, and the truth is that the whole system is a shambles.

Last year, I sold some shearling ewes to three separate people. I'd bought them in from four separate breeders, so the flock of 220 had four sets of IDs. I have no scanner/reader, and even if I did, how would I transfer the information from the reader to a sheet on the side of a field. "Simple", said my local TS office "You'll have to record each one manually". I 'phoned up the TS office where the sheep were going, and the girl who deals with movement licenses told me not to bother, as the law was going to change this May, anyway. Back I went to my local TS bods, repeated what the girl from Wales had said, they decided to check with her, then came back to me and said that this time they'd turn a blind eye to it.

With such chaotic systems in place, the fact that officialdom can't cope with the rules and conditions of trade within the EU, means that both they, and the traders, generally disregard the conditions and rules of trade, which quite neatly is the answer and reason for the farcical events which we now witness!!

Alec.

Ets, Whilst our heros are testing for horse meat, testing for Kangaroo might be an idea too. a.

 

[MurphysMinder]

I wouldn't mind a bit of kangaroo Alec, its very tasty. Its also I think more expensive than beef so doubt it would be used.

 

[Christsam]

I am so pleased I am vegetarian and luckily have been for about 15 years so hopefully never had horse! Though I did think twice before even having vegeburgers the other night as the thought made me feel sick!! I did note the other morning that a well known supermarket (dont know if i can name!) had a sign up saying they have "very rigorous testing procedures for all their meat which, unfortunately was not enough". Doesnt seem to me the tests were that good then!

On the bute note, i asked my vet about passports this morning when he came to do jabs as I have signed the part saying he is not intended for human consumption so the medicines form is never filled in. I thought that it was possible for a future owner to change their mind as its says new owners to reconfirm but, according to my vet, once that part saying he is never intended is signed, it can never be changed. so that has put my mind at ease anyway (not that i plan on selling him and he would never go to an abattoir anyway).

 

[Rollin]

I am so pleased I am vegetarian and luckily have been for about 15 years so hopefully never had horse! Though I did think twice before even having vegeburgers the other night as the thought made me feel sick!! I did note the other morning that a well known supermarket (dont know if i can name!) had a sign up saying they have "very rigorous testing procedures for all their meat which, unfortunately was not enough". Doesnt seem to me the tests were that good then!

On the bute note, i asked my vet about passports this morning when he came to do jabs as I have signed the part saying he is not intended for human consumption so the medicines form is never filled in. I thought that it was possible for a future owner to change their mind as its says new owners to reconfirm but, according to my vet, once that part saying he is never intended is signed, it can never be changed. so that has put my mind at ease anyway (not that i plan on selling him and he would never go to an abattoir anyway).

Ah, but in France it can be changed. I d/k about other member states.

The issue is however, that the USPCA in Ireland discovered criminals could forge passports with a kit costing just £3.99 and buy micro-chips on the net. Buy a horse for 10 euros and sell it for 500 euros, nice work if you can get it. 70,000 horses from Ireland are unaccounted for.

Responsible breeders like myself will be hard pressed to recover our breeding costs.

 

[Orangehorse]

The scandal about horse passports is that there is not a central database. So a horse can be sold,with its passport and the "not for human consumption" bit ticked. The new owner can apply for a new passport, saying that the first one was lost, and be issued with a new "clean" one with no mention of past veterinary history.

I think all this was pointed out at the time, but hey, ho the Civil Servants know best.

 

[Christsam]

Ah, but in France it can be changed. I d/k about other member states.

The issue is however, that the USPCA in Ireland discovered criminals could forge passports with a kit costing just £3.99 and buy micro-chips on the net. Buy a horse for 10 euros and sell it for 500 euros, nice work if you can get it. 70,000 horses from Ireland are unaccounted for.

Responsible breeders like myself will be hard pressed to recover our breeding costs.

how about horses that are already microchipped? can they get around that too?