People have been eating horse meat for years, perhaps not even knowing it. We have not heard of any death's as a result
There is one restaurant in Calais that sell nothing but horse meat meals and advertises such
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I've eaten horse meat a few times (despite by wife being an avid Horse person and British National Endurance Champion on a tricky 200 Kms ride on an arab stallion).

I think (personally) here the problem is when folks try to pass it off as "
100% pure beef"
when it obviously isn't.

I'm also grateful that everything we eat at home is freshly prepared and cooked as I'm sure most of the 'strange ingredients' seem to be in the 'ready meal' type thing, which we wouldn't dream of eating anyhow.

Chris wrote:

I've eaten horse meat a few times (despite by wife being an avid Horse person and British National Endurance Champion on a tricky 200 Kms ride on an arab stallion).

I think (personally) here the problem is when folks try to pass it off as "
100% pure beef"
when it obviously isn't.

I'm also grateful that everything we eat at home is freshly prepared and cooked as I'm sure most of the 'strange ingredients' seem to be in the 'ready meal' type thing, which we wouldn't dream of eating anyhow.

Good point Chris, it is obviously a trade description issue as well. like you, our steak and kidney pies are made at home from finest beef chuck steak and ox kidney

willowsend wrote:

Chris wrote:

I've eaten horse meat a few times (despite by wife being an avid Horse person and British National Endurance Champion on a tricky 200 Kms ride on an arab stallion).

I think (personally) here the problem is when folks try to pass it off as "
100% pure beef"
when it obviously isn't.

I'm also grateful that everything we eat at home is freshly prepared and cooked as I'm sure most of the 'strange ingredients' seem to be in the 'ready meal' type thing, which we wouldn't dream of eating anyhow.

Good point Chris, it is obviously a trade description issue as well. like you, our steak and kidney pies are made at home from finest beef chuck steak and ox kidney

There has been a lot of Press written about this problem in the nationals in the UK, but as yet no one has even mentioned fraud. As I understand it, the law is broken at the point of sale if the ingredients are not what it says on the outer packet.

As for eating horsemeat, do you know how safe the meat is? Horses in general are very prone to worms and if not checked on a regular basis and treated with worming powders it is almost rampant. Bute is given to many horses for pain relieving, this is not something that should be digested by many humans and so the list goes on!! Fancy a beefburger now? I didn't think so!!

That's a fair enough post Mr Itchtyfeet, but you've probably been eating this stuff for the last fifty years and I notice you'e still alive and healthy.What the heck did the Brits buy and eat during WW2...red meat, disguised as beef was everywhere and we are still alive. Since I was a child, some 65 years ago, I've eaten beef, lamb, horse, crocodile, camel, donkey, rabbit, kangaroo, monkey, pork, snake and many types of fish and whale flesh..including dolphin and I don't seem to have many health problems. I think this issue is a bit of a knee jerk reaction because most folk can't be bothered to read the packet. I absolutely agree that the packaging company SHOULD list what is contained within the product, but, at the end of the day, how many people ACTUALLY read the labels.

bgbazz wrote:

That's a fair enough post Mr Itchtyfeet, but you've probably been eating this stuff for the last fifty years and I notice you'e still alive and healthy.What the heck did the Brits buy and eat during WW2...red meat, disguised as beef was everywhere and we are still alive. Since I was a child, some 65 years ago, I've eaten beef, lamb, horse, crocodile, camel, donkey, rabbit, kangaroo, monkey, pork, snake and many types of fish and whale flesh..including dolphin and I don't seem to have many health problems. I think this issue is a bit of a knee jerk reaction because most folk can't be bothered to read the packet. I absolutely agree that the packaging company SHOULD list what is contained within the product, but, at the end of the day, how many people ACTUALLY read the labels.

:Good post:bgbazz I agree with you it should be on the label what the content is, it's a trade description issue and if the company like Findus knew they had horse meat in their products and sold it as beef, they should be the guilty party. rightly or wrongly I don't think anybody will die as a result of food poisioning

OK my four penny worth

Actually I agree with Chris . Eating Horsemeat is no big deal, and yes bgbazz we have probably been eating it for years or have we. We never buy ready made meals and always cook with our own ingredients. But even then I have been known to buy a Steak &
Kidney pie from tesco if the boss was going out or was having a Curry (Yuk). But unfortunately the people who are most affected in this are those who are the least likely to know e.g. Children with school meals, someone in hospital and the elderly who cannot make their own food for one reason or the other. It is a case of what you read on the label is what is in the product. If it says 100% Beef then it must be beef and not beef flavor. From what is being said in the News there might be a connection with the criminal underworld, and they say BG is ruled by the mafia. There is an answer but when who knows.

The times we live in means we are entitled to decide what we do and don't eat. As everyone has said, there is nothing wrong with eating horse meat as such, but it should be listed as such on ingredients. 100% seasoned beef should be just that, as should beef lasagne. The very fact that the horse meat has been extensively used without it being known means that there are no quality controls on the product. Maybe you have all eaten this stuff without getting ill, but anyone who eats meat contaminated with, for an extreme example, bute, on a very regular basis (and some people do live of meals such as Findus, as they are a budget brand) might eventually get liver damage, who knows? And likewise there is no check on antibiotics, which a lot of people are allergic to.

There are fraud investigations going on. Someone, somewhere is making a lot of money on the surplus of £5 horses. Even the French are taking stuff off their shelves and horse is part of their every day food in some areas, but even they like some sort of quality control and traceability.

Mrs Eq

Cross posted with tonyb60, so apologies for duplicate points.

I love all animals pigs cows lambs and horses i eat them all and i don't think it so terrable. I agree with other osts the problem is that it has been hidden in pre pack foods. Now perhaps the English population with wake up and grow up and learn to cook and then the pre cooked pack will eave the shelves.
Any problem i have ever heard of is pre pack from baby food in jars to vegetarian meals with meat.
There are enough TV cooks to teach the world how to eat It is better for us and cheaper in the long run so why pre pack in the first place It's just laziness They all find time to complain though! :Ch:to home made good clean food even if it is horse meat

Equinus wrote:

The very fact that the horse meat has been extensively used without it being known means that there are no quality controls on the product. Maybe you have all eaten this stuff without getting ill, but anyone who eats meat contaminated with, for an extreme example, bute, on a very regular basis (and some people do live of meals such as Findus, as they are a budget brand) might eventually get liver damage, who knows? And likewise there is no check on antibiotics, which a lot of people are allergic to.

It beggars belief that multi national companies such as those that have been selling these so called beef products are naive enough not to have regular quality inspections on their products. Our UK government have not thought it necessary to inspect products for quality either, to me this is taking naivety to the extreme to believe that what you are paying for is what you are receiving without regular checks. What planet do these people all live on? It certainly isn't our planet, is it?

I believe that supermarkets will now have an exodus of sales of all pre made meals which include meat produce, this in itself cannot be a bad thing of course and will hopefully mean that a section of the UK population will now start eating more wholesome food.

[size=50:3uxdywz0]Daily Telegraph

[size=150:3uxdywz0]. . . and now for the latest Stop Press:


Tesco confirms its frozen Everyday Value Spaghetti Bolognese contains horse meat
Tests carried out by Tesco have confirmed its frozen Everyday Value Spaghetti Bolognese, which was withdrawn from sale a week ago, contains horse meat.

Tesco has confirmed its frozen Everyday Value Spaghetti Bolognese contains horse meat.
The test results showed most were at a trace level but three showed levels of horse DNA exceeding 60 per cent.
The ready meal was made by Comigel, Tesco said, and announced it was becoming the latest retailer and manufacturer to drop the beleaguered firm in the wake of the contamination.
Tim Smith, Tesco's group technical director, said: "
A week ago Tesco withdrew a frozen Everyday Value Spaghetti Bolognese product from sale.
"
We did this as a precaution because Findus products from the same factory were reportedly at risk of containing horsemeat.
"
Since then, we have carried out a number of tests on the product and those tests identified the presence of horse DNA.

"
Of the positive results, most are at a trace level of less than 1% but three showed significant levels of horse DNA, exceeding 60%."

He said further tests had been carried out to ensure there was no danger to public health through the presence of the potentially harmuful substance bute.
He said: "
The test for bute was clear."
The frozen Everyday Value Spaghetti Bolognese should contain only Irish beef from our approved suppliers.
"
The source of the horsemeat is still under investigation by the relevant authorities. The level of contamination suggests that Comigel was not following the appropriate production process for our Tesco product and we will not take food from their facility again.
"
We are very sorry that we have let customers down. We set ourselves high standards for the food we sell and we have had two cases in recent weeks where we have not met those standards.
"
Our DNA testing programme is under way and will give us and our customers assurance that the product they buy is what it should be."

I am a borderline vegatarian, why because of the way meats are produced, veal a young animal caged for its tender meat, lamb as its has no long life, lobster because of the way it can be boiled alive. i only want the choice to make an informed decision to what meat i choose to eat. nothing wrong with this, but if you say it is 100%beef not 65% beef with the additives of other meats making it 100% i would like to know so i can make the decision of whether i eat it.

It beggars belief that multi national companies such as those that have been selling these so called beef products are naive enough not to have regular quality inspections on their products. Our UK government have not thought it necessary to inspect products for quality either, to me this is taking naivety to the extreme to believe that what you are paying for is what you are receiving without regular checks. What planet do these people all live on? It certainly isn't our planet, is it?

I believe that supermarkets will now have an exodus of sales of all pre made meals which include meat produce, this in itself cannot be a bad thing of course and will hopefully mean that a section of the UK population will now start eating more wholesome food.



Interestingly, I am a personal shopper for one of the affected supermarkets, people who tend to use us to do there shopping are generally the ones who use a lot of ready meals, though not all. And I am definitely not picking as many, except in the frozen section, so although the chilled products are not considered a problem, the (generally) cheaper frozen meals are still selling. Haven't picked a lot of tinned meat products though, and we are quieter than we have been.

chrissybg wrote:

I love all animals pigs cows lambs and horses i eat them all and i don't think it so terrable. I agree with other osts the problem is that it has been hidden in pre pack foods. Now perhaps the English population with wake up and grow up and learn to cook and then the pre cooked pack will eave the shelves.
Any problem i have ever heard of is pre pack from baby food in jars to vegetarian meals with meat.
There are enough TV cooks to teach the world how to eat It is better for us and cheaper in the long run so why pre pack in the first place It's just laziness They all find time to complain though! :Ch:to home made good clean food even if it is horse meat

Agree here. It really doesn't take that long if you do it all the time, and is cheaper in the long run. Apart from the odd pizza for Mr Eq (yeuch) and the usual sausage, beans and tomatoes, we try to eat fresh and seasonal. I don't eat meat at all.

Mrs Eq

I had a beefburger in Tesco,s the other day....when the waitress asked if i wanted anything on it
I replied ..yes £5 each way .....!

varnagirl wrote:

I had a beefburger in Tesco,s the other day....when the waitress asked if i wanted anything on it
I replied ..yes £5 each way .....!

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