Horsemeat in Tesco "beef" burgers

[Deleted]

I'm not that bothered by it (I live in England). I have no problem with eating horse, but wasn't pork also found in burgers? Couldn't this upset a Jew if they ate it and found out afterwards?

If a tiny, almost unnoticable amount of meat that shouldn't be there was found, then what's stopping the original person who prepared it to get even more careless next time?

[Catta]

Let's hope they haven't, bought the farm.

Well i didnt mean to start a pun war. My comment was more a reference to this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H4ceCOMXHY

[Catta]

To the gallows with this one.

YOU WONT TAKE ME ALIVE!

... Though I believe that's the idea... >_>

[Tuvok]

An "Outrage" is an overstatement at best. My office today was filled with jokes on the subject, and it brought a little bit of laughter-filled sunshine to an otherwise dull Wednesday.

[Talokami]

My understanding is in the UK it's more of a cultural taboo than a full on ban of horse meat. In the US, there was a legal ban on it as well as the cultural taboo. Horses in America are mostly considered pets so using them for meat is something most aren't comfortable with.

Despite that, however, the US is still slaughtering horses for meat; we're just exporting it so that's probably how it got into the Tesco beef. The sad reality for a lot of broken down race horses, or those who won't deemed fit for breeding stock, is that they'll be bought on auction for a one way trip to the slaughterhouse. That in turn also raises health concerns as horse racing is notorious for doping the horses. Since these animals weren't originally meant for human consumption, there aren't any records being kept of what drugs they've ingested or their general health, let alone the illegal substances they're being pumped with.

France and other European countries, no longer want US horse meat because of how badly regulated the doping is: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/sports/drugs-injected-at-the-racetrack-put-europe-off-us-horse-meat.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 .

That's probably another reason why people are really pissed about the horse meat in the beef; if it came from Mexico, which uses US horses, there is no reliable way of knowing what drugs were in the horses at the time of slaughter.

[Talokami]

Its kind of similar to the veal problem. Almost nobody eats veal because of how it used to be produced, naturally this will change with the new generation, because veal is still a rather large product of dairy farming I believe. And its tasty / cheap.

Yeah veal is rather unavoidable in that regard.

I think it's an interesting phenomenon that we are even able to our noses up at meats such as veal, lamb, and horse, due to moral reasons. Two hundred years ago I imagine that wouldn't have been possible. Meat was meat and if you could get it, it would be ridiculous to be offended by its origin.

[Orby]

I never buy any Tesco brand... I always buy the commercial stuff when I go there :P

[Imnick]

Yeah veal is rather unavoidable in that regard.

I think it's an interesting phenomenon that we are even able to our noses up at meats such as veal, lamb, and horse, due to moral reasons. Two hundred years ago I imagine that wouldn't have been possible. Meat was meat and if you could get it, it would be ridiculous to be offended by its origin.

I don't think the fact that we are able to become more moral as life quality improves is either surprising or a bad thing.

[Cthulhu 2020]

Glad here in USA we don't allow that kind of stuff in our meat, even mcdonalds is 100% beef seasoned with salt and pepper.

McDonald's is 100% beef in the sense that it comes from the inside of a cow. Now whether those patties are made out of muscle tissue or some other parts of the cow isn't really clear... but if you think that you're getting two 1/4 pound beef patties made from the chuck meat of a cow for $1, I've got some beach front property in Florida to sell you for cheap.

I'd honestly much rather eat some horse flank than the ground up and ammonia treated pink slime that came from the inside of a cow.

[Talokami]

I don't think the fact that we are able to become more moral as life quality improves is either surprising or a bad thing.

Absolutely! I just think it's fascinating that we have improved our standards of living where that's possible.

[Roose]

I am sure that it has already been said, but horses are not really anything like cows other than they are both mammals that eat grass.

I do not know many people that keep cows as pets. My family has a horse as a pet. Horses are very smart and live for a long time. They are great at running off other unwanted animals and we never have to cut the grass in the pasture. She is just as much a part of the family as the dogs and my cat.

We all know that horses are treated very differently all over. Some cultures have no respect for animal life regardless of species, but pretty much all of them use dead horses as food. We use horses in dog and cat food all the time. But these horses were not bred to be slaughtered for dog food.

I guess there are some cultural aspects to not wanting to eat horse meat. I also know that it is not very good meat because horses are all muscle.

If they had told people they were eating horse I would be fine, though. It is disgusting imo, but the world is crazy.

[Deleted]

I'm in the UK and it bothers me. I don't mind other people eating whatever they want - but I want to know what I'm eating. I trust if something is labelled 100% beef, it's beef, not horse. I wouldn't buy horsemeat myself, personal preference, I'm a rider and I consider horses "pets", in the same way I'm not comfortable eating cat or dog - I accept other people might do, and I don't judge them... if there was another product on the shelf labelled horse I wouldn't be upset - I'd choose not to buy it. I have the right to know what I'm buying and make a decision on whether I want to eat that.

[Deleted]

Glad here in USA we don't allow that kind of stuff in our meat, even mcdonalds is 100% beef seasoned with salt and pepper.

I think you mean 100% cow.

[araine]

The problem isnt that they used horse meat it is that they where willing to go away from 100% beef. Horse should be the least of your concerns they might have put in gross junk that is not even food that you dont know of. Horse done right is excellent meat.

[Reeve]

IIRC Horse meat cannot be sold in California legally. I don't really have a problem with eating horsemeat, but I agree that labeling on food should match what's actually in the food.

[Deleted]

The problem isnt that they used horse meat it is that they where willing to go away from 100% beef. Horse should be the least of your concerns they might have put in gross junk that is not even food that you dont know of. Horse done right is excellent meat.

i dont think this was done on purpose, i was thinking that tesco didn't know they had horse in them, which is why the pulled them from the shelves.

[superstarz]

im so hungry i could eat a horse

[Deleted]

All honesty i'm not against the concept of eating horse.

The outcry is, following Mad cow, Foot and mouth. The farms the beef comes from is monitored...not the same for horses, so it could of been infected with anything.
Advertising is one of the things, 29% horse i believe were the cheapest of the cheap burgers, which i doubt is very beefy in the first place, so with that lvl of horse it is not a beef burger.
Horse was not the only contamination i believe.

[Talokami]

All honesty i'm not against the concept of eating horse.

The outcry is, following Mad cow, Foot and mouth. The farms the beef comes from is monitored...not the same for horses, so it could of been infected with anything.
Advertising is one of the things, 29% horse i believe were the cheapest of the cheap burgers, which i doubt is very beefy in the first place, so with that lvl of horse it is not a beef burger.
Horse was not the only contamination i believe.

There was some pork as well, but given that horse isn't eaten commonly in the UK the question is how the hell did it get there?

[yetgdhfgh]

I guess thats what happened to shergar LOL (doubt many people will get that joke)

TBH this shit doesnt surprise me in fact i remember about 20 years ago my local curry house was raided and they found dead dog carcasses in the meat freezer that was being used as beef!