Poor Horsies :weep:
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/16/16964619-fraud-on-a-massive-scale-europes-horse-meat-scandal-keeps-on-growing?lite
Quote'Fraud on a massive scale': Europe's horse meat scandal keeps on growing
By Ian Johnston, Staff Writer, NBC News
LONDON -- When officials in Ireland made a routine check on a few hamburgers, what they found made them nervous: One burger was actually nearly one-third horse.
It was a discovery that has sent shock waves reverberating across Europe.
Since the disturbing DNA test results were disclosed last month, horse meat has been found masquerading as beef in countries including the U.K., France, Germany, Sweden and Norway.
A small amount of horse meat was also found by British officials to contain a banned drug that, in high enough doses, could be fatal, although U.K. Chief Medical Officer Sally Davies has stressed there is a "very low risk indeed" that eating contaminated meat would be harmful.
As supermarket shelves were cleared, meat suppliers in Ireland, the U.K., France, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Romania and elsewhere have come under scrutiny.
Some in Western Europe have pointed the finger particularly at Romania, where a ban on horses in cities and the tough economic climate have been cited as reasons for a rise in exports of horse meat. The Romanians have insisted the meat was properly labeled as horse when it left the country, Reuters reported.
According to French investigators, one French firm alone made a profit of $733,800 over six months by selling cheaper horse meat as beef in a supply chain involving 28 companies in 13 countries, Reuters reported. The company, Spanghero, protested its innocence Friday.
Intelligence agency Europol -- normally tasked with combating the trafficking of guns, drugs and humans -- was brought in to investigate what one British lawmaker has described as an "international criminal conspiracy." Three arrests -- the first over the scandal -- were made in the U.K. on Thursday.
Expert: Watch what you eat
Some officials believe only the "tip of the iceberg" has been revealed, and on Friday the European Union endorsed a major DNA-testing program to establish just how much unlabeled horse meat is being sold as beef or other foods.
For ManMohan Sodhi, a professor specializing in supply chains at London's City University, the news has been a revelation.
"If you had talked to me a month ago, I would have said: 'No, it would never happen; I completely believe in the [food supply] system,'" he said.
Now his message is "Watch out for what you eat."
Sodhi compared the current situation to the first signs of the gross mismanagement of subprime mortgages that led to the banking crisis. "People began to uncover risks and suddenly there were too many problems," he said.
He said large supermarkets like to deal with large suppliers who are in turn supplied by other firms and so on down to farmers and other actual food producers. At any point in the chain, someone could decide to cut costs by replacing a high-cost food with a cheap substitute.
Sodhi explained it was not in the interest of supermarkets to check their suppliers. This, he said, would be an added expense and would also make them legally liable if something went wrong.
Taking goods on trust meant they instead had "plausible deniability," he said. "Then if something bad happens, all I do is put out an advertisement and say, 'We really care about our customers, we're doing everything we can ... too bad somebody did something horrible."
In a video message, Tim Smith, group technical director of supermarket giant Tesco, spoke of the firm's "unreserved apology" over the discovery of horse DNA in its frozen hamburgers and said it had dropped a supplier in Ireland.
But he also stressed the company was taking steps to ensure this never happened again.
Smith said Tesco planned to "launch a new program of activity which will test on a DNA fingerprinting basis all the meat and meat products that we source from our suppliers ... adding another layer of surveillance to help protect our customers."
On Thursday, a Tesco spokesman was unable to clarify exactly how extensive the DNA tests would be.
'Cynically and systematically duped'
Sodhi's opinion that things could be far worse than they currently appear might be dismissed by some.
But a committee of British lawmakers that investigated the situation published a report Thursday that concluded the discoveries so far were "likely to be the tip of the iceberg" amid "suggestion of fraud on a massive scale."
The committee concluded that it appeared consumers had been "cynically and systematically duped in pursuit of profit by elements within the food industry."
"This scandal has also raised broader food policy questions about cheap food production, transparency, consumer confidence and pressures within the supply chain," it added.
There are suggestions that traditional butcher's stores have benefited from the furor.
Roger Kelsey, of the National Federation of Meat & Food Traders, estimated his members had seen an increase of up to 50 percent in demand for sausages, ground beef and burgers, according to the BBC. The British Retail Consortium, which represents supermarkets, has insisted their sales have not suffered.
Family-run store Aubrey Allen, of Leamington Spa, was named the U.K.'s Butcher's Shop of the Year 2012 and was recently given a royal warrant to supply meat, poultry and game to Britain's Queen Elizabeth II.
Russell Allen, who was born into the business, said supermarkets would "push and squeeze" and "bully their suppliers" to cut costs.
But he also said ordinary people shared some of the blame for the horse meat scandal by providing the demand for very cheap food.
"If you are buying five burgers for a pound ($1.55), I kind of think you get what you deserve," he said. "It suggests you don't care, so why would you suddenly care?"
Allen said he thought people should eat better quality meat and have it less often.
He lamented the loss of a culture of cooking. Now, he said, people don't know what to do with cheaper cuts of meat and view him as strange for having homemade soup for lunch.
"Generally people say, 'I don't have time to cook' and I say, 'Well, you've got time to watch people cooking [on television],'" he said.
Allen said butcher's shops were making something of a comeback after many were put out of business by supermarkets in the 1970s and 1980s.
But he admitted mass-produced food was probably here to stay. "I think it's possibly a necessary evil on some levels. Not everyone can afford to, not everyone has the luxury of eating quality products all the time," he said.
'Going on for years'
Frenchman Michel Roux Jr., whose restaurant Le Gavroche is one of Britain's best, also criticized supermarkets for putting pressure on their suppliers and suggested the horse meat scandal was not a recent occurrence.
"I'm sure that it's been going on for years, absolutely years," he said. "It's being done on a nod and a wink."
Roux said he remembered as a child eating roast horse and horse burgers. And he suggested a legitimate market for horse meat might be a positive step.
"Horse meat is a good meat ... maybe in Britain we should embrace it, we should be eating more," Roux said.
He said the flavor was "not too dissimilar to beef, slightly sweeter and richer," admitting it wasn't his favorite.
However, asked if he would put horse meat on his menu, he replied, "Not as yet."
In Ireland, the officials who uncovered that first horse meat burger and several others with trace amounts can scarcely believe what has transpired since they went public on Jan. 15.
Ray Ellard, director of The Food Safety Authority of Ireland, said they had been "not expecting to find too much" when they carried out a small survey of beef products.
"We were kind of ... I wouldn't say taken aback, but that's kind of the truth," Ellard said. "We were wondering, 'What's going on here?' and wanted to be absolutely sure of the science of what we were doing."
"We set out to do something fairly simple. We didn't know it was going to end up where it is," Ellard added. "It's been painful for a lot of the food industry, some people have had reputational damage."
"We're glad in one way. Systems will all improve and the potential for defrauding people will be a lot less. We're glad that that's happened, but we had a nervous few days, I can tell you."
Reuters contributed to this report.
Most of the horses were dead when eaten.
Horse meat can be very good. The main issue in this case is that the source of the meat isn't quite clear, and that it may have included horses not fit for consumption - e.g. because they were on certain kinds of medication.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fsphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net%2Fhphotos-prn1%2Fc0.0.570.272.49110320285%2Fp843x403%2F534812_10151506824146062_325435261_n.jpg&hash=3d430dfddd38458b65d4e9b9bc2f8b0ab7503de6)
There's a better one but alas I can't find it :(
QuoteHorse meat can be very good. The main issue in this case is that the source of the meat isn't quite clear, and that it may have included horses not fit for consumption - e.g. because they were on certain kinds of medication.
I've heard that.
IMO though the biggest issue is that the companies were promised beef and given horse, which isn't what they wanted at all, its much cheaper stuff.
I ate horse once unwittingly. It was terrible. Though it was sashimi.
A well known steak restaurant in Amsterdam turns out to have been serving nothing but horse meat for over 60 years. :lol:
Quote from: Maladict on February 16, 2013, 08:23:57 AM
A well known steak restaurant in Amsterdam turns out to have been serving nothing but horse meat for over 60 years. :lol:
...it isn't an Argentinian place is it? :unsure:
Quote from: Tyr on February 16, 2013, 08:22:04 AM
I ate horse once unwittingly. It was terrible. Though it was sashimi.
There's a number of dedicated horse meat shops in Vienna. They usually sell good quality. Though I admit my favorites are sausage (think frankfurters) or as Pferdeleberkäs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leberk%C3%A4se
Horse sashimi can't possibly be good.
Now that EU politicans are involved, I forsee a massive amount of horse-trading going on.
Quote from: mongers on February 16, 2013, 09:42:37 AM
Now that EU politicans are involved, I forsee a massive amount of horse-trading going on.
Hold your horses now.
Quote from: mongers on February 16, 2013, 09:42:37 AM
Now that EU politicans are involved, I forsee a massive amount of horse-trading going on.
You were just chomping at the bit to start with this weren't you. :P
You guys need to rein in the puns.
too bad the horses weren't greek, then the matter would be focussing on the amount of Greeks that were in the horsemeat.
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on February 16, 2013, 10:09:45 AM
Quote from: mongers on February 16, 2013, 09:42:37 AM
Now that EU politicans are involved, I forsee a massive amount of horse-trading going on.
You were just chomping at the bit to start with this weren't you. :P
:D
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on February 16, 2013, 09:30:35 AM
Horse sashimi can't possibly be good.
It is a local specialty of central Kyushu. It is far from inedible- They serve much worse things there. :)
And the punster are galloping in. :rolleyes:
Quote from: DGuller on February 16, 2013, 03:42:47 PM
And the punster are galloping in. :rolleyes:
No need to trot out the rolling eyes.
Quote
Family-run store Aubrey Allen, of Leamington Spa, was named the U.K.'s Butcher's Shop of the Year 2012 and was recently given a royal warrant to supply meat, poultry and game to Britain's Queen Elizabeth II.
Was it necessary to randomly drop th equine's name there? Can't see what horse she has in this race.
Quote from: DGuller on February 16, 2013, 03:42:47 PM
And the punster are galloping in. :rolleyes:
That barn door was closed too late.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on February 16, 2013, 04:12:50 PM
Quote from: DGuller on February 16, 2013, 03:42:47 PM
And the punster are galloping in. :rolleyes:
That barn door was closed too late.
Yeah, the they've shouted themselves horse over this.
You punsters should hoof it out of this thread.
Quote from: DGuller on February 16, 2013, 04:29:29 PM
You punsters should hoof it out of this thread.
With all due respect, as you're putting the cart before the horse, you leave.
Quote from: Tonitrus on February 16, 2013, 10:15:49 AM
You guys need to rein in the puns.
:mad:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FfjVkEdT.png&hash=81a646ea33df8309e2d6177c722432a2917a1f52)
:frusty:
All fucking punsters must fucking hang.
Quote from: DGuller on February 16, 2013, 04:29:29 PM
You punsters should hoof it out of this thread.
I think we are saddled with them, alas(so).
:bleeding: @ all of you but Beeb.
Quote from: jimmy olsen on February 16, 2013, 06:00:42 PM
Quote from: Tonitrus on February 16, 2013, 10:15:49 AM
You guys need to rein in the puns.
:mad:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FfjVkEdT.png&hash=81a646ea33df8309e2d6177c722432a2917a1f52)
This punishment(posting of crappy comics) is indeed cruel but sadly not unusual.
Quote from: Barrister on February 16, 2013, 06:22:28 PM
:frusty:
All fucking punsters must fucking hang.
:hmm:
Haven't I seen you punning recently yourself?
------------
Anyway, while I'd like to say "mare puns please", I'll refrain out of respect for my fellows.
For a continent with such a stick up its ass over a genetically modified tomato, they sure don't give a fuck about the quality of their meat supply chain. Bet they would if it involved Jews, though.
QuoteNestlé Pulls 2 Products in Horse Meat Scandal
By STEPHEN CASTLE
LONDON — First centered on Britain and Ireland, the scandal over beef products adulterated with horse meat escalated across continental Europe on Tuesday after Nestlé, one of the world's best-known food companies, said it was removing pasta meals from store shelves in Italy and Spain.
Before the announcement late Monday, the crisis had already spread, with perhaps a dozen countries caught up in product recalls, but the involvement of Nestlé marks another significant act in a fast-moving drama which is forcing Europeans to question the contents of their meals.
Nestlé, which is based in Switzerland, said it had increased testing after the discoveries of horse meat in British foods and found "traces" of horse DNA in two products made with beef supplied by a German company named as H.J. Schypke.
The levels were above the 1 percent threshold used by the British Food Standards Agency as an indicator of adulteration in testing being conducted by Britain's food industry and therefore the products would be withdrawn, Nestlé said in a statement.
"There is no food safety issue, but the mislabeling of products means they fail to meet the very high standards consumers expect from us," Nestlé added.
Two chilled pasta products, Buitoni Beef Ravioli and Beef Tortellini are being taken off supermarket shelves in Italy and Spain immediately. Meanwhile, Lasagnes à la Bolognaise Gourmandes, a frozen meat product made for the catering trade in France, will also be withdrawn and replaced with product made from 100 percent beef.
Nestlé knows only too well the importance of its brand image, having once been the object of a boycott after being embroiled in a controversy over the marketing of baby milk in developing countries.
Although the current horse meat crisis has been seen mainly as an issue of fraud and mislabeling it emerged last week that a powerful equine painkiller, phenylbutazone – or bute – may have entered the food chain.
Eight horses slaughtered for food in Britain tested positive for the drug. Six of those carcasses had already been exported to France for use in human food.
In Britain, food manufacturers have embarked on a huge program of tests of food to try to stem a crisis of confidence in products originating in a long and bewilderingly complex supply chain.
Last Friday, the British Food Standards Agency released the results of 2,501 tests conducted on beef products by the British food industry, of which 29 contained more than 1 percent horse meat.
But, just as that information was released, it emerged separately that food intended for school meals had also contained horse meat and a blame game has erupted between politicians and supermarket bosses over where responsibility ultimately lies.
The European Union has also announced an increase in food testing though there are growing calls for more regulation at a European level. Though tough traceability rules for fresh beef products were introduced after the crisis over mad cow disease more than a decade ago, a similar regime is not in place for processed food.
"What has been discovered in recent days is large-scale fraud," said Richard Seeber, the coordinator for the center-right group in the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee of the European Parliament. "This is a clear breach of current European food labeling rules. This is why the first thing we need is more controls and better enforcement of the existing rules."
Glenis Willmott, the leader of the British Labour Party's members of the European Parliament, said that the response of the E.U.'s executive, the European Commission, had been totally inadequate.
"The horse meat scandal should result in a Europe-wide comprehensive legislation on 'origin labeling' for all meat in processed foods, and a better E.U. enforcement procedure," Ms. Willmott said.
Nestle sells premade pasta meals in Italy? :yuk:
Quote from: sbr on February 19, 2013, 09:52:32 AM
Nestle sells premade pasta meals in Italy? :yuk:
There is like 8 world wide food companies. Nestlé is one of them.
Pepsico is the giant.
Enough of beating that dead horse already. :rolleyes:
Quote from: Martinus on February 19, 2013, 10:05:01 AM
Enough of beating that dead horse already. :rolleyes:
All of you punsters are horsing around on this very serious issue!
Quote from: KRonn on February 19, 2013, 10:12:52 AM
Quote from: Martinus on February 19, 2013, 10:05:01 AM
Enough of beating that dead horse already. :rolleyes:
All of you punsters are horsing around on this very serious issue!
Neigh!
Quote from: sbr on February 19, 2013, 09:52:32 AM
Nestle sells premade pasta meals in Italy? :yuk:
It's an Italian company owned by Nestle.
I'd like to try horsemeat. They can ship all of the stuff being pulled off shelves to me. :cool:
Quote from: Caliga on February 19, 2013, 10:55:42 AM
I'd like to try horsemeat. They can ship all of the stuff being pulled off shelves to me. :cool:
Yeah I'd try it - but I think Jos had it right(?!) that the issue is that people were paying for beef but getting the much cheaper horse - as well as concerns about safety of the horsemeat used.
Yeah, fairly sure that prime horsemeat is more expensive than prime beef. Trouble is that a lot of this horsemeat is probably from drugged-up elderly Romanian donkeys :D
So it turns out the packaging information on cheap romanian goods may be misleading. My innocence is shattered.
Quote from: alfred russel on February 19, 2013, 02:57:21 PM
So it turns out the packaging information on cheap romanian goods may be misleading. My innocence is shattered.
What I've seen is that the Romanians are in the clear, one of the two abattoir only processes horse and supposedly their traceability is fine, the meat in question then went via a Swiss company to France and it's there it appears the horse-meat became a beef product, before finally going to Luxembourg to be made into a ready meal.
Quote from: mongers on February 19, 2013, 03:03:03 PM
What I've seen is that the Romanians are in the clear, one of the two abattoir only processes horse and supposedly their traceability is fine, the meat in question then went via a Swiss company to France and it's there it appears the horse-meat became a beef product, before finally going to Luxembourg to be made into a ready meal.
The investigators should start with Kofi Anan's son.
Quote from: mongers on February 19, 2013, 03:03:03 PM
Quote from: alfred russel on February 19, 2013, 02:57:21 PM
So it turns out the packaging information on cheap romanian goods may be misleading. My innocence is shattered.
What I've seen is that the Romanians are in the clear, one of the two abattoir only processes horse and supposedly their traceability is fine, the meat in question then went via a Swiss company to France and it's there it appears the horse-meat became a beef product, before finally going to Luxembourg to be made into a ready meal.
It would really suck if that is the case. I can just see it now, the Romanians getting all high and mighty and moaning "Why do you always pick on Romania!"
I guess what this situation shows is how crappy our current "ship food to every end of the continent and back before you eat it" system is
German minister: the poor should eat horse meat.
First reaction 'lol, gaffe'.
After a few moments thought: too fucking right. So much waste going on.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21559451
Current understanding of what happened with horse-meat ending up in some of the ready meals:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fspecial%2Fpanels%2F13%2Ffeb%2Fhorsemeatroute%2Fimg%2Fgraphic_1361267888.gif&hash=010dad1fee1da2596f8c04247cb45f8d412de137)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21499290 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21499290)
Quote from: Tyr on February 19, 2013, 09:19:41 PM
It would really suck if that is the case. I can just see it now, the Romanians getting all high and mighty and moaning "Why do you always pick on Romania!"
Yeah don't they know their place?
Yeah it looks like the Romanians are in the clear. On the other hand this is one of the British farmers alleged to be involved...
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2Fi%2Fpix%2F2013%2F02%2F12%2Farticle-2277380-178973A7000005DC-531_634x416.jpg&hash=4e58d3c59b088c02dc77e107430f366d0df432e5)
That photo takes me back to the height of the mad cow disease scare. On our way through Devon we overtook a car with a "I eat British Beef with Confidence" sticker. As we overtook the car we both glanced back to take a look at the occupants...........well now........centuries of inbreeding and family madness just radiated from that vehicle :D
Quote from: Sheilbh on February 24, 2013, 11:24:16 AM
Yeah it looks like the Romanians are in the clear. On the other hand this is one of the British farmers alleged to be involved...
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2Fi%2Fpix%2F2013%2F02%2F12%2Farticle-2277380-178973A7000005DC-531_634x416.jpg&hash=4e58d3c59b088c02dc77e107430f366d0df432e5)
John Bull really looks better wearing that hat.
Josq in 20 years.
Wtf are those animals in the background? Wallabies?
Quote from: HVC on February 25, 2013, 08:02:59 AM
Wtf are those animals in the background? Wallabies?
They are prime beef cattle mate :cool:
Quote from: HVC on February 25, 2013, 08:02:59 AM
Wtf are those animals in the background? Wallabies?
Yep. Apparently he keeps wallabies at his abattoir....
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on February 19, 2013, 02:38:00 PM
Yeah, fairly sure that prime horsemeat is more expensive than prime beef. Trouble is that a lot of this horsemeat is probably from drugged-up elderly Romanian donkeys :D
Yeah horses are pretty expensive. I do not know how my ancestors could afford to have those things pulling them around.
Apparently there''s now horse meat in the Swedish Meat Balls of Ikea :ph34r:
In the flurry of tests being performed on meat products all over Europe, small percentages of pork have been found on German and Swiss kebab meat.