The horse meat scandal continues! Just when you thought it was safe to buy frozen lasagna overseas and ship it to your dinner table in Ohio, it's not. Food company Findus has discovered that some of their frozen "beef" lasagnas contained a whopping 60 to 100 percent horse meat and have recalled the product since the label obviously doesn't match what's inside. Horse meat poses no health risks. It's just kind of grossing people out.
Burger King was accidentally serving horse meat burgers in the U.K., and now the tainted meat supply has made its way into grocery store freezers. But the question everyone's asking is: Could this happen in the U.S.?
Burger King and Findus got their beef from vendors who said they were only using U.K.-sourced beef, but those vendors were lying. They were actually getting meat, presumably cheaper meat because let's be real, money-saving was almost certainly the motive, from processing plants in Poland and France that had supplemented their beef with horse meat, which, again, presumably bore a cost-savings.
So, as far as I can see it, yes, horse meat-tainted beef could definitely happen in the U.S. because as long as there are liars and people willing to cut corners to make a buck, then of course -- this could happen anywhere.
Additionally, in 2011, Congress lifted its five-year ban on slaughtering horses for human consumption, making it easier for swindley horse meat to wind up in our burgers.
The solution? Freak out, of course. Go vegan, ASAP. Start yelling at your neighbors (neigh-bors? get it?) that horse meat is everywhere. Or, you know, embrace it -- horse meat's the only meat that gets more tender as it ages, so mmm, it has that going for it.
Are you nervous about eating horse meat?
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Comments 8
The question I am asking: Why is everyone so upset about eating a horse when a cow is the same thing?
Horsemeat poses extreme health risks. Horses are NOT regulated to eat like cows, pigs, etc. Many horses that end up in the slaughterhouse are former race animals that have spent their entire lives being pumped full of drugs that are TOXIC to humans because they were never intended for consumption. Even pets that are given up to auctions are bought up by meat processors and often have consumed or been injected with things that should NOT end up in the food chain!
They've already recalled the lasagna because horse painkillers such as Phenylbutazone (aka 'Bute') have been found in them. Phenylbutazone is NOT approved for human use and in large quantites (such as that used on a horse) can cause supression of white blood cells and aplastic anemia.
Nyctimene- Do you think cows in American slaughter houses or any other big time slaughter house, is not pumped with hormones, antibiotics, and many many more vaccines?
Angie -- Of course they are but there's a huge difference. The FDA regulates the types of drugs that can be given to livestock such as cows and pigs. Certain medications cannot be given X amount of days before slaughter and certain foods cannot ever be given to them because they know certain medications and feed items end up in the consumed meat. Most cows and pigs are raised specifically to become bacon and cheeseburgers. I have never heard of a single farm in the US or Canada that specifically raises horses to become consumable meat. Every horse used was either a show animal, performing animal or companion animal never intended for consumption. Not all medications are equal. Some can be consumed by humans and some are never intended for the human body. Bute is one of those and it is the most common medication given to horses.
Nyctimene- If you think the government is out to protect you and make sure you only eat healthy animals, you might be in for a big suprise.
Strictly for what it is, it doesn't quite bother me.
But Nyctimmene is on a role. She's right, are we sure how well that is regulated?
Also, for the food allergy community. We don't typically eat horses, but what if someone was raelly allergic to horse meat. And they would have no idea that was in there until it was too late.
IMO, this is carelessness. This is precisely why I make my own food (typically with organic ingredients) or I am very picky and choosy with where I eat.