Horsemeat

Sorry Bags but you cannot make a decent hamburger from slime and it would not, I reckon, be even halfway edible.

No need to be sorry. I agree you can,t make a decent hamburger without decent ingredients. Actually, I reckon you can't make a decent anything without decent ingredients. Good horsemeat is a good ingredient. But that's not what was used, apparently.

Still, the real problem was the lack of info as to what the ingredients, food or bad, were.

good or bad

Dal is sludgy slurry. It's still good food.

Separate point.

Labelling is not the only issue here ..... the lack of quality-control is what I find alarming.

I think a lot of fraud and profiteering has been going on.

The burgers were not a threat to health. All the stuff in them was edible. They were sold as food. Cheap food. Which some people want because it's all they can afford or because they don't mind eating cheap burgers, odd though that might seem tomsome of us. Actually, DD prefers cheap burgers, as do many kids – mild taste, easy to chew, stuff like that.

The issue is the lack of correct labelling info.

So long as food is labelled correctly and all ingredients properly described, people have a choice whether to buy or not based on their own reasons. If the complete information isn't there, that choice is taken away. That is the issue.

If no one knows where the horsemeat [product] came from, how it was processed, stored etc. there is no guarantee that it was fit for human consumption.

Agree with absent. I like all meat to be fully traceable.

Homemade burgers are the best. And so easy! #oxocubes

It wasn't horsemeat. It was isolated horse protein. So I've heard.

I agree too that food should be traceable. That is also a labelling/info issue.

So where do you reckon that came from Bags? Cats?

Oh sorry, absent. I see you did specify horse 'product'.

No, it was horse protein. But even if it had been cat, so what?

My point is only that iffood is properly labelled and described, there shouldn't be a problem. It's traceable and people know what is there. Then it's their choice whether to eat it.

I'd eat rat meat if I was starving, as people in dire situations often have done.

During the siege of Stalingrad people ate not only rats and cats but other people too. I think there are quite a few people I could eat if I were starving before I even considered eating my cats.

29% horse protein? Presumable mechanically extracted horse protein, the bits of the animal you wouldnt want to eat if served up unadulterated on a plate, no matter which animal it came from.

Today's papers report that some of the meat tested positive for a drug, carcinogenic to humans that is given to horses to help reduce joint swelling.

Of course in extremis people will eat anything. I understand the arctic explorer William Parry really did eat his shoes and this was the source of Charlie Chaplin doing it in one of his films, but I am sure nobody expects anyone to do this unless the choice is eat the shoe or die from starvation.

The guys in the Chilean air crash ate their dead friends and fellow football team mates in order to stay alive – but that is a wee bit different from buying burgers at Tesco that turn out to contain an unexpected source of protein which is difficult to track in terms of being healthy and safe food for humans. FlicketyB I also read a report about carcinogens and while they may be infinitesimal in terms of causing human harm, I for one, don't want to consume any of them.

The point isn't really about horse meat or not, or halal meat or not. But about deceipt and choice. If you buy beef it should be beef and not halal. If it contains horse or whatever, or is halal - then that should be CLEAR to all.

Did anyone ever see the Ric Burns documentary 'Death of a Wagon Train' about the Donner party who got stuck in the Sierra Nevada whilst taking a short cut through the mountains? One of the most mesmerising documentaries I've ever seen even though the content is somewhat gruesome.

www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/jan/25/tesco-horsemeat-inquiry-burgers-sale
Horse burgers still on sale in Tesco in Oxford

Just received this email from Waitrose, explaining why they withdrew their frozen burgers from sale.

Dear Ms M

I wanted to write to you following a number of reports in the media over the past few days about Waitrose frozen beef burgers being withdrawn from sale. It can be alarming to see stories like this hitting the headlines and so I wanted to ensure that you have full details about the current situation.

The frozen burgers are produced on our behalf by a company called Dalepak. They are made to an exacting specification using high quality British beef, from farmers we know and trust.

The Waitrose technical team have visited Dalepak and after a thorough review, reported that the burgers were produced to our high specification and separately from other companies products. As a further precaution, the ingredients were sent for testing and this showed that our burgers contained only 100% beef.

So why did we feel it necessary to withdraw the burgers? Last week the British Retail Consortium took the decision to temporarily suspend their accreditation of the Dalepak site and as a result, we took the frozen burgers off sale. The BRC have now reinstated the accreditation and as a result of this, Waitrose frozen burgers are now back on sale.

I realise this is a rather long letter, and thank you for your time reading it, but I wanted you to know as a very valued customer that you can always rely on Waitrose quality. As you are probably aware, whether it be in fresh, frozen or in a ready meal, Waitrose use the same high quality British beef from farmers we know and trust.

Should you have any more queries, please do not hesitate to contact us at 0800 188884

Yours sincerely

Mark Price
Managing Director, Marketing, Waitrose

A lot of us must have got that email!

There is absolutely nothing wrong with horseburgers as such - as long as properly labelled and people can make the choice. I wouldn't buy them- despite being born and bred in a country where horsemeat if popular. Just like I wouldn't eat halal meat. IMHO good husbandry, short transport and 'humane' slaughter is much more important than the specific animal. I am sure horses do not feel any more pain than cows or sheep, or indeed the hugely intelligent pig.