How much of Dobbin would you be prepared to eat unknowingly?

[ctdctd]

Well?

A foot, or a head, or maybe a tail?

Food-watchdog-to-ask-shoppers-how-much-horse-is-acceptable.html

[Mich the Tester]

I have a simple solution to this, but maybe I'm just a simpleton. My big idea is this;

- if it says 'beef' on the package then the only meat in it should be beef
- if it's got horse in it, then it should say horse on the package
- if it's horse AND beef in it, then it should say horse and beef on the package

Likewise for foods containing pork, chicken, fish, albatross, goat or any other animal.

If we can have laws protecting religious people against unwittingly eating pork or beef, how is it so difficult to protect all of us against unwittingly eating horse?

[SupremeSpod]

Well?

A foot, or a head, or maybe a tail?

Food-watchdog-to-ask-shoppers-how-much-horse-is-acceptable.html

How can you "be prepared to eat unknowingly"?

[formant]

If we can have laws protecting religious people against unwittingly eating pork or beef, how is it so difficult to protect all of us against unwittingly eating horse?

*nods*

...or laws protecting people with allergies from unwittingly consuming gluten, peanuts, etc.

I'm a fan of the 'what it says on the tin' model.

That said, I chanced it on Monday and ordered 'Beef Bolognese' from the hospital menu.
Just cause...

[Ignis Fatuus]

Well?

A foot, or a head, or maybe a tail?

Food-watchdog-to-ask-shoppers-how-much-horse-is-acceptable.html

1. Horse if I know it's horse and fit for human consumption: no problem.
2. Horse if I don't know it's horse, but it is fit for human consumption: OK
3. Horse if I don't know it's horse, so it is not supposed to be there, and was put there illicitly, probably with the aim of saving money, so is probably not fit for human consumption: Definitely not.

Trouble is, I don't see secret horsemeat ever being in case 2, it's almost certain to be case 3.


Or to put it another way, dodgy horsemeat, no way; but dodgy cow meat neither. It's not the species but the provenance that worries me.

[vetran]

If the slaughterhouse kills Cow, pigs & horse the same tables & knives are used. Yes you wash them but there will be traces hence the 1% limit.

The problem is not that there is slight cross contamination, there was wholesale corruption of the food chain. We have no idea what is in it.

Most religions give absolution for consumption that happens without intent.

[Mich the Tester]

If the slaughterhouse kills Cow, pigs & horse the same tables & knives are used. Yes you wash them but there will be traces hence the 1% limit.

The problem is not that there is slight cross contamination, there was wholesale corruption of the food chain. We have no idea what is in it.

Most religions give absolution for consumption that happens without intent.

Yes you're right about the slight contamination where several species are slaughtered, but this whole practice of asking consumers how much horsemeat they'll tolerate is just obfuscation.I am a tester, but I'm not an idiot. I understand that if a slaughterhouse kills horses, there might be a few cells of equine material in my beef, but that's not what I would complain about. What I am absolutely sick to the back teeth of is being lied to about my food. We've had the BSE and vCJD scandals, engine oil in chicken feed, the foot in mouth cock-up, the salmonella scares, antibiotic resistance problems and still the heavily subsidised mass food industry, along with the expensive taxpayer funded inspection agencies, are unable to get their ******* act together. Given my income I can fortunately choose to buy food from suppliers I trust, but many, many people cannot afford to make that choice and they are being ripped off and lied to.

If you kill some horses, then you kill some cows, then in between you apply some basic professional standards and clean the machinery and equipment using the miracle of clean brushes, cloths and detergents; then I'm happy, but selling bolognaise sauce without telling people it's got a big chunk of horse in it, then asking the public to tell you precisely what concentration of horsemeat contamination should be allowed is the obfuscation and deceit, and it's the practise of criminal scum.

[evilagent]

I've been offered shares in a company called Soylent Green.
Should I be worried?

[vetran]

I've been offered shares in a company called Soylent Green.
Should I be worried?

pretty sure we will soon discover it was contaminated with that as well.

[mudskipper]

Bought some sausages for the barbie when I was working in Oz a couple of years back.

Label said, "Ingredients: Meat"

A fairly safe catch all that could be put to good use here.