According to this BBC article, horsemeat and pork were recently found in ground beef processed in Ireland. While Ireland’s food safety organization emphasized there was no safety issues eating the meat, they noted there were quite a few ethical issues including eating a meat not traditionally eaten in the country as well as delivering a product which did not conform to religious standards such as halal or kosher.
From the article:
A total of 27 products were analysed, with 10 of them containing horse DNA and 23 containing pig DNA.
[...]
Horsemeat accounted for approximately 29% of the meat content in one sample from Tesco.
In addition, 31 beef meal products, including cottage pie, beef curry pie and lasagne, were analysed, of which 21 tested positive for pig DNA.
What would you do if you found the meat you were eating was 29% horsemeat? Recently there was the usual Facebook outcry over the idea that horsemeat should be permitted for eating in the US. What side of the fence do you sit on? Do you wonder what sort of cross-contamination exists in the foods we eat? Do you expect more from the FDA here in the United States than what was seen in Ireland here? Whatever you have to say about this one, go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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January 16th, 2013 at 7:35 am
If the food was labeled as Kosher and it was found to be contaminated, that would be a problem. I’m not sure what the USDA requirements are for cross contamination and at what point calling it Ground “Beef” is no longer a valid claim. But since I don’t look for nor require Kosher food, it would be a personal non issue.
If i found out the ground beef I received was 29% horse meat, I’d be surprised and curious what was causing so many horses to be slaughtered. But assuming all the animals that went into my ground meat were safe to eat, I do not believe I’d freak out. To be honest, I’m more queasy about all the dead insects and various animal feces that end up in our food system than if a horse ended up there.
My take is that this is Ireland. I don’t know what their meat processing economy is like, so I don’t know how valid such contamination may be. But with only 6.4 million people and 84,421 square kilometers in area, my guess is they do not have a large selection of facilities for processing meat, thus cross contamination may be more common as a course of business than the U.S. (over 315 million people and 9,826,675 square kilometers in area) i.e. if a machine goes bad in South Dakota, then 10% of the U.S. throws away their chickens, and doesn’t have chicken for a couple days as the various other processing plants fill in the gap and the price for chicken goes lower. My guess is that if a machine goes bad in Ireland, half the country throws away their chicken and much of the country has less chicken for a month and the price gets higher.
January 16th, 2013 at 8:25 am
If you advertise “hamburger” it should be as stated, not with other add-ins. You see other foods, such as hot dogs, brats etc that say it may contain other meat products/fillers.
Did this report say if it was spread out across both retail and consumer foods such as grocery vs. fast food etc?
The short of it is, advertise accurately. Religious beliefs are one thing, but if persons are allergic to certain foods, that causes an issue.
January 16th, 2013 at 8:35 am
My dad worked briefly at a butcher shop when he was younger. He never ate any sausage or hot dogs after seeing how they are made/what is in them.
I doubt horse meat is the worst thing found in our food, but I do think it’s a problem.
January 16th, 2013 at 9:39 am
In an unrelated article that surfaced when searching “Ireland” and “Meat”.
“Tesco strikes up exclusive contract with Steak America to provide all meat product to their flagship store and its burgeoning franchise empire.”
January 16th, 2013 at 12:41 pm
Worked in a butcher’s shop for a summer when I was young – we used to call it, “Lung, Bung, and Tongue!”. Enjoy!
Cheers!
Irving
January 16th, 2013 at 12:54 pm
I have eaten horse meat … and I thought it was beef at the time. I honestly could not tell the difference, so I can see how it could slip by.
That said, I was irritated that I didn’t know. I don’t have a huge problem with eating horse, but I should know I am eating it.
January 17th, 2013 at 4:00 pm
Horsemeat would disturb me. In the U.S. it’s akin to eating dogs; horses are pets or work animals, not food. But I suppose it’s perfectly acceptable to eat horsemeat elsewhere.
The main thing is that whatever the package says is what should be in it. Period.
January 17th, 2013 at 10:34 pm
Eh, I wouldn’t be pissed if I unknowingly ate horse meat. Hell, I was kind of disappointed it wasn’t offered in the restaurants I went to in France. I worked in a butcher shop for 3 years in high school, and honestly, horse would be the least of the problems with ground beef (left over beef from the previous day was ground into the new). I’m to the point now where I only buy ground sirloin (I’m considering making the switch to a higher end butcher and having cuts of meat ground by the butcher). I wish there were more stand alone butcher shops in the area.
Mostly, I kind of miss working in a butcher shop, it was strangely fun.
January 17th, 2013 at 11:13 pm
Aliecat, go to Clancey’s in Linden Hills. They butcher and dry age an entire cow and then grind it for their ground beef. It is yummy. The last time we got it, we made hamburgers from it using Kenji’s smashburger method, then ate them on homemade potato buns. No ketchup, no nothing. Just salt. Heaven.
February 1st, 2013 at 7:10 pm
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/02/01/170873657/wheres-the-beef-burger-king-finds-horsemeat-in-its-patties