Horse Meat Scandal

Horses that find their way illegally into the human food chain could potentially contain other prohibited drugs, not just anti-inflammatories. In the UK, all horses (by law) have to have passports - which have either a signed declaration stating "Not For Human Consumption" or if this is not signed, then ALL drugs given have to be recorded. The problem is, not all horses have passports, some horses seem to be accompanied by the wrong passport (I once vaccinated a horse which, according to its passport, was 12yrs old - I checked the teeth to find several incisors missing and the angles of the jaw suggested that this animal was at least double its passported age). If a passport was issued for a horse before a certain date the horse did not require a microchip to be implanted thus allowing for falsification (if we issue a new passport for any horse now, if it has not already been chipped we have to implant a chip at the same time). Our regulations are not as tightly maintained as they should be, and it's almost impossible to track every horse in this country - other countries may be even more lax in their approach...

I am so glad to be vegetarian

So you should be!! I am not veggie but I cook everything from scratch and always have!! And I am so glad!! We even make our own burgers in our house!! Thank goodness!!

It goes without saying that that we should know what we are eating but cooking from scratch isn't the same as eating totally unprocessed or clean.

According to your diary you use Smash instant mash rather than fresh spuds, have shop bought cereal, bread and yogurts etc.
All of these things can be "contaminated"

Just sayin'

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I did not know it was in Lasagna frozen meals also. I just read this link from drudgereport.com that explains it is 80 % horse meat! Ireland is known for the best Irish Beef free range so this is shocking news. The horse meat came from France. I am thinking it had to be old horses or sickly horses they would not use healthy horse stock. Just wait we will hear soon it is happening in USA also. Food prices in Europe are at least twice the price of USA prices there is no excuse for this. Cattle have to be registered in Ireland and kept track of even if you only want 1 cow. Irish Food standards are high and I have no doubt the standards will go higher.

http://news.sky.com/story/1049133/findus-beef-lasagne-meals-100-percent-horsemeat

Findus Foods: Just Say Neigh...

haha just made me chuckle

I'm not even surprised. Times like these makes me happy to be vegetarian.

I buy majority of my meat at a local butcher... but when dining out, what are we getting?!

Pony burgers? Yum

It makes me thankful for now making healthier choices, there is never a drama with pulses x

In before smug vegetarians.........................oh too late.

Horse meat is actually quite tasty. Don't know what the big rub is on it being horse. I had horse sashimi when I was in Okinawa.

I got the "it's not beef and was advertised as such" logic, and I can agree with it. Just the "OMG it's horse!" thing boggles my mind.

Kinda like when people turn up their nose at Bison ("That's weird!") or lamb or anything not cow/pig/chicken.

Agreed...But, seriously, I'd rather eat the horse meat than the genetically modified salmon that our U.S. FDA is getting ready to let hit the shelves. YUCK... I've been eating mostly deer meat here lately (We hunt). I really hate grocery store meat...you just don't know where it has come from...I've been interested in trying to buy all my meat from local farmers here lately....will probably be checking out that option soon too as we're running out of deer...

I would be more worried about the other crap they are allowed to put in your food. At least horse is actually meat.

This!

Horse meat is actually quite tasty. Don't know what the big rub is on it being horse. I had horse sashimi when I was in Okinawa.

I got the "it's not beef and was advertised as such" logic, and I can agree with it. Just the "OMG it's horse!" thing boggles my mind.

Kinda like when people turn up their nose at Bison ("That's weird!") or lamb or anything not cow/pig/chicken.

me too - was the horse sashimi good. sounds like it would have looked a bit like beef carpaccio

Im afraid Im a little bit of a snob when it comes to processed burgers, ready made meals etc and think that if you buy a lasagne for 1quid you kind of get what you deserve! You certainly get what you pay for. one lady here said her homemade lasagne for 4 costs a fiver and an asda one cost 2quid less, how much better is that homemade one for your family than all the chemicals and preservatives than are in the asda smart price one?? For two pound I'd rather have the healthier family!
My first thought however when I heard the news (just goes to show how much using this site has gotten into my bloodstream) was I wonder if the horse meat is less calories?! Imagine you had been logging a beef lasagne and it was horse which could be lower calories! Every cloud and all that! :-)

The thing is there is only so far this logic takes you, if you ever see how much a cow or a lamb get sold for at a cattle market you'd see that meat is actually REALLY cheap. so if you are buying it on mass, and also only buying cheaper cuts its possible to get the price to be substantially lower. I used to live near a farm that offered a free butchering service if you bought a whole lamb, did it on a couple of occasions with a mate and we had loads, and only spent about £30.
It is possible to make meals cheaply on mass (just ask a good restaurant).