UK "beef" scandal? Cow vs horse lol

[funkylogik]

Has anyone outside the UK seen our headlines about horse, cat and even rat sold as "beef" in our microwave meals?

I honestly dont care lol i adore animals but im a carnivore and can kill one for food and couldnt care less if im eating horse instead of cow.
Id particularly like to hear how the French view the outcry here
Thanks
Alan :beer:

 

[MoodyBlues]

Has anyone outside the UK seen our headlines about horse, cat and even rat sold as "beef" in our microwave meals?

No, I hadn't.

I honestly dont care lol i adore animals

No, you don't.

but im a carnivore

No, you're not. Humans are not carnivores.

and can kill one for food and couldnt care less if im eating horse instead of cow.

Like I said, you definitely do NOT adore animals.

 

[funkylogik]

I know my species are omnivore, trust me, youre not talking to an idiot mate lol
I like animal protene
I think we wouldnt have evolved to the stage of typing on this device to each other if it hadnt been for us building and using tools to allow us to eat other animals far in our evolutionary past.

What im interested in is if countries like France where eating horse muscle is commonplace are laughing at the UK's reaction to "we've been eating horse" lol

And me not adoring animals..
Im qualified in animal care and feed 2snakes, 1cat and a huge snail.
I love them to bits and abhore unnecesary animal cruelty and id eat the snail last if it was life or death

 

[funkylogik]

Wish id read your profile before i replied.
Youre Vegan and my OP must disgust you. Im honestly sorry.
Accept a :beer: ?

P.s.... WOW.. i remember Tandy in Scotland... my dad used to buy stuff to tinker with from there

 

[XplosiV]

Horse is great stuff, better than beef imo, no idea why is not a standard thing here in the UK tbh.

 

[funkylogik]

Horse is great stuff, better than beef imo, no idea why is not a standard thing here in the UK tbh.

Lol well i dont know if ive tried it or not lol.
Did you eat it in france?
My Mrs says its like beef but tastier

I love wild venison and rabbits. The villiage i grew up in, most folk hunt (not for fun, for free good food)

 

[XplosiV]

Lol well i dont know if ive tried it or not lol.
Did you eat it in france?
My Mrs says its like beef but tastier

I love wild venison and rabbits. The villiage i grew up in, most folk hunt (not for fun, for free good food)

Had it in Prague in '07. Nice little out of town restaurant. Was the nicest leanest steak I've ever had. :thumb:

 

[funkylogik]

Nice one. Think id like it man

 

[XplosiV]

Yup yup, and the steak

 

[funkylogik]

Lmao *got it*

 

[Wilkas]

It's not just the UK, it's in France and the States too. Now they are trying to find someone to put the blame on, Romania is in the lead.

I don't eat microwave meals and only buy birdseye burgers so doubt I'm affected although it does make you wonder what other crap they are putting in our food.

 

[Liamo_210]

Yep this scandal is big in ireland too, infact ireland were the first country to discover horse meat in food. Honestly i dont mind as long as there is no health risk.

 

[Hadron]

I think the main point is that people think they are buying one thing and find out they are not. But it also illustrates things people would rather not know, namely that food is made to a price and there is a lot of incentive to cut corners, the supply chain is complex and even the shops don't know what they are selling. And whatever excuses are made, the food standards agencies have been steadily cut back which can only make it easier for this to happen (the UK agencies did not discover any of this themselves).

As for health risks, there's no evidence so far, but there have been plenty of examples of food adulteration introducing stuff that shouldn't ever be in the food chain (I can think of lethal examples in Italy and Spain in my memory). So if you don't know whether it's cow or horse, how much confidence can you have that ingredients are fresh, not diseased, not contaminated with medication, etc? Horse meat is cheaper than beef, so you make more money if you can sell it as beef - condemned meat is also cheaper, so the same logic would apply. And if you think there aren't people out there who'd do that, see what I said a couple of sentences ago...

 

[ElasticNinja]

Yeah this is a big European scandal now. Highlights a lack of regulation really. Relying on states is too dodgy imo, we need a proper European inspectorate system.

 

[Davdi]

AS Hadron said, it's not that it's horse meat that's the issue, rather that the meat is declared as BEEF on the packaging (and presumably on all relevant documentation). What else might be in a 'beef' product? Banned drugs, prions (BSE anyone?) or who knows what else?

 

[A.Nonymous]

Yeah this is a big European scandal now. Highlights a lack of regulation really. Relying on states is too dodgy imo, we need a proper European inspectorate system.

Laughing at this. Here in the States we have a nationwide food regulatory body and have had one forever. The States are free to enforce their own regs on top of that (and many do) and it all works out fairly well.

Personally, I wouldn't care to much as long as the meat is safe to eat.

 

[ElasticNinja]

Laughing at this. Here in the States we have a nationwide food regulatory body and have had one forever. The States are free to enforce their own regs on top of that (and many do) and it all works out fairly well.

Personally, I wouldn't care to much as long as the meat is safe to eat.

Why are you laughing at that? I advocate the same system the US has, although obviously more stringent.

The problem is not horsemeat - the problem is consumers were lied to and it is plausible that some of the horsemeat contains mildly harmful steroids and such. Standards of food are higher in Europe, but we have the problem of Romania and Bulgaria still having quite backwards agrifood sectors.

In the US, people don't expect high quality food. In Europe people freak out over even the mention of GM or whatever.

 

[funkylogik]

Yeah i understand. If things are being declared as beef and theyre something else then what else are we being lied to about?
I dread to think what some sausages are lol

 

[Bob Maxey]

As for health risks, there's no evidence so far, but there have been plenty of examples of food adulteration introducing stuff that shouldn't ever be in the food chain (I can think of lethal examples in Italy and Spain in my memory). So if you don't know whether it's cow or horse, how much confidence can you have that ingredients are fresh, not diseased, not contaminated with medication, etc? Horse meat is cheaper than beef, so you make more money if you can sell it as beef - condemned meat is also cheaper, so the same logic would apply. And if you think there aren't people out there who'd do that, see what I said a couple of sentences ago...

One great example of this is the addition of vast amounts of antibiotics to much of our food. This is one reason antibiotics do are not as effective these days.

As a kid, I remember how amazing antibiotics were at knocking out infections. It is a shame we allowed producers to "abuse" antibiotics.

In the US, people don't expect high quality food. In Europe people freak out over even the mention of GM or whatever.

This AM, I asked someone to pick me up some grape juice. She brought back a concoction containing sugar, water, artificial flavors and color. Mention was made that the product contained less than 2% real fruit.

So I went back to 100% Florida OJ and grapefruit juice. I want juice not water and fake flavors.

Some of us DO expect high quality food, by the way. We actively peruse it and we care about it. I cannot always find a ready and consistent local source of USDA Prime quality beef, for example.

Incidentally, the USDA allows growers to call ANY tomatoes with ANY amount of red showing, a 'vine ripened' tomato. My view is the public is mislead when they buy vine ripened tomatoes.

I think people buy whatever is cheapest these days and they are likely to visit the closest market rather than visit seasonal stands.

 

[A.Nonymous]

This AM, I asked someone to pick me up some grape juice. She brought back a concoction containing sugar, water, artificial flavors and color. Mention was made that the product contained less than 2% real fruit.

So I went back to 100% Florida OJ and grapefruit juice. I want juice not water and fake flavors.

Some of us DO expect high quality food, by the way. We actively peruse it and we care about it. I cannot always find a ready and consistent local source of USDA Prime quality beef, for example.

Incidentally, the USDA allows growers to call ANY tomatoes with ANY amount of red showing, a 'vine ripened' tomato. My view is the public is mislead when they buy vine ripened tomatoes.

I think people buy whatever is cheapest these days and they are likely to visit the closest market rather than visit seasonal stands.

I think it depends a lot on the person. There is a big trend here in embracing "organic" food and entire chains exist that only sell said organics. Not sure if that's the case in the UK as well. This is despite the fact that organics have not been proven to be any healthier than their non-organic counterparts. Some people care about such things though and others don't. It depends on the person.

 

[ElasticNinja]

I think it depends a lot on the person. There is a big trend here in embracing "organic" food and entire chains exist that only sell said organics. Not sure if that's the case in the UK as well. This is despite the fact that organics have not been proven to be any healthier than their non-organic counterparts. Some people care about such things though and others don't. It depends on the person.

I'm not to up on individual statistics for the UK only but spending on organic produce has increased strongly despite the recession.

Its not really about things being organic though, its about what's in processed products (even the most basic meat goods as we can see).

Yeah i understand. If things are being declared as beef and theyre something else then what else are we being lied to about?
I dread to think what some sausages are lol

Yeah thats a big worry, you have to wonder what other lies we are being fed by the agrifood sector. More regulation is required I guess.

This AM, I asked someone to pick me up some grape juice. She brought back a concoction containing sugar, water, artificial flavors and color. Mention was made that the product contained less than 2% real fruit.

I presume in the US juices are clearly labelled as 'not from concentrate' or 'concentrated'. 2% fruit really is taking the mickie though. I can understand a company not wanting to waste a lot of resource shipping liquid from Spain but it can get to the stage where you are not drinking Orange juice (or whatever) at all. You are drinking a fruit flavoured concoction.

 

[Bob Maxey]

I think it depends a lot on the person. There is a big trend here in embracing "organic" food and entire chains exist that only sell said organics. Not sure if that's the case in the UK as well. This is despite the fact that organics have not been proven to be any healthier than their non-organic counterparts. Some people care about such things though and others don't. It depends on the person.

All food is organic. I really hate the term because it sends a message it should not send. That is to say, that it is better for you. All it is, is higher priced. My guess is some of the so-called organic food is something else.

Producers sell it because they can charge more and consumers buy it because they think it is better. We simply cannot grow enough of the stuff to feed the world, so we use things that drive organic food fools crazy.

Even the "expert consumers" that think they can tell the difference really cant. Many are in the same group that wants Di Hydrogen Monoxide banned.

Penn and Teller - Organic Food (Full Episode) - YouTube

I presume in the US juices are clearly labelled as 'not from concentrate' or 'concentrated'. 2% fruit really is taking the mickie though. I can understand a company not wanting to waste a lot of resource shipping liquid from Spain but it can get to the stage where you are not drinking Orange juice (or whatever) at all. You are drinking a fruit flavoured concoction.

Everything here is labeled. If you read the contents label, everything is ordered by percentages. If the first ingredient is sugar, for example, there is more sugar than other ingredients.

My OJ simply says, 100% orange juice. If it is from concentrate, the label clearly says so.

 

[A.Nonymous]

If I remember correctly the FDA does regulate exactly what can be labeled as organic and what can't.

 

[Bob Maxey]

Yeah i understand. If things are being declared as beef and theyre something else then what else are we being lied to about?
I dread to think what some sausages are lol

In my area, we can easily get quality sausages. Usually to order if we want something special or in bulk, ground to spec. I tend to stay away from most national brands due to too much fat or salt, however.

We know what is in the product.

The best thing to do is shop for fish at a fish monger and buy your beef from a butcher. We have several and the new Harmon's near me has an actual butcher that actually knew what Tripe and Sweetbreads are. Tripe is offal and you likely would quiver if you knew what sweetbreads are. LOL

 

[A.Nonymous]

There's a local butcher here who sells some really good meet. The problem is that, price wise, it's sometimes 2 to 3x the cost of the stuff you can buy at the local grocery store. The grocery store stuff is not as good quality, but it's cheaper and it keeps body and soul together and you can stay healthy eating it. So the local butcher is a niche business these days.