Food Scandals - Update
Here's a quick update from Novopress on the scandal of horse meat passed off as beef:
The horse meat scandal is becoming a European scandal. According to Le Figaro, European supermarkets are now inundated with horse meat. With global trade, "fraudulent products can be found on shelves in all the great distribution chains of Europe." Twenty countries are said to be affected.
Horse meat has also been discovered in Russia, near Moscow, in sausages made in Austria. Traces of horse meat were detected as well in frozen dinners in Latvia without indications on the label. Le Parisien adds: "The furniture giant Ikea that also sells Swedish culinary specialties, stopped the sale of meat balls on Monday, and announced it would remove new products from its shelves, after tests came back positive for horse meat."
Note: The issue is not whether or not one should eat horse meat, but the lack of labeling that is becoming endemic on all foods throughout globalized Western democracies.
We do not eat horse meat regularly in the United States. Decades ago, in France at the student restaurant, they served horse meat without telling us. I ate it without even realizing what it was, and only found out later. It was similar to beef, but I think it had a more interesting flavor. This does not mean I would ever do it again knowingly. Nor do I think I could even recognize it today, since I rarely eat beef. (I was also fooled into eating rabbit. That too happened just once. But rabbit meat is common even here.) Throughout France some butcher shops displayed the sign or emblem "Chevaline". It was part of everyday life, and not regarded as scandalous. Below, a fine rendition of a horse's head graces a butcher shop in France. It is not something I find normal or pleasant, when I consider the sacrifices made by horses for men, but that reaction is culturally determined. (I never thought I could eat snails or frogs' legs, but in France they were delicious and I indulged whenever I could. That was long ago and I haven't looked at them since.)
According to Yahoo News, the scandal has revived an interest in horse meat, and specialized butcher shops are doing better-than-ever business.
However, on the brighter side, some French companies have announced they will only use French beef from now on. Which shows that they could have been doing that all along.
Labels: Animal Cruelty, Economics, Ethics/Morals, Health
posted by tiberge @ 5:20 AM
6 comments
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6 Comments:
Why is there so much 'hoo-ha' about horse meat? It's good and nutritious, tastes better than beef and the animal has (probably) had a better and healthier life.
You're mad, all of you!
@ john de melle
We're not mad. We want to know what we're eating. I acknowledge that horse meat is consumed in many parts of the world. The food we eat is part of our culture. When I was in France at first I was shocked by the rabbits hanging in the market places, the ris de veau that I had never eaten (it is very nutritious, I admit), and other animals, including horse, that were normally consumed much more in France than in the U.S. I remember also being upset that they killed little birds called thrush to make paté de grives. But it was delicious. And I only ate it once. People regard food differently.
It is certainly better to eat high quality horse meat than a MacDonald's burger that may contain extremely toxic ingredients.
But, like halal and GMO, horse meat should be labeled.
Is there a shortage of beef that horse meat has become necessary to sell as such?
I wrote about "Horse Meat" not mislabelled Beef. I, too, want to know what I'm eating.
I wish to eat what I choose not something that someone else is passing off as something that it is not.
True labels - yes
Horse meat - yes
Beef - yes
Mutton - yes
Lamb - yes
Buy good fresh meat from a butcher not a pre-packed pre-prepared mixture. Never buy ready-meals, nor minced beef; they contain anything that the manufacturer has to hand.
@ Jewel,
I don't know if there is a shortage, but I haven't heard of one. The problem here seems to be complete indifference on the part of those companies who feed a massive number of people. They may cut corners wherever possible. Possibly it's easier or cheaper to fill up some burger with horse meat and call it beef. They could not have been unaware of what they were doing.
How long did it take MacDonald's to remove the "pink slime" from its burgers? Only when it became a scandal. A company on a roll, with great success, loses its ethics. Another problem is the lack of national pride. The French always prided themselves on the highest quality ingredients. They have been horrified by global agribusiness policies that make them eat meat from other countries, and genetically modified foods. Monsanto has been to blame for a lot of this.
@ John de Melle,
I agree with everything you say. Buy lamb from a farmer or merchant you trust, since New Zealand lamb (which I understand is sold in France) is most likely halal. I still have to find out about Icelandic lamb. At one time it was halal, then it went back to normal.
It's too bad because France always had the best and sweetest lamb. Why do you have to import from New Zealand? If your population has grown it is mostly Muslims. Possibly that is why the lamb is imported from NZ?
Also, remember that if you want ground meat, grind it yourself. Mounds of ground meat at the butcher shop come from more than one animal.
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