And the new health food is... horse

Beef was really healthy once too - before greed and overindulgence took over. I can't help but wonder if the horse meat is healthier only because they haven't been bred just to feed hungry north americans. As soon as people start jumping on the horse meat bandwagon, they too will be injected with steroids, raised in squalor, and fed horrific foods to fatten them up quickly for consumption.....wonder what will be the next healthy food once we screw up the horses? Eventually we'll run out of healthy meat options.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


No, I don't believe it is coincidence that this comes up at this point in time- as I said, the subject of horsemeat is in the forefront, naturally the media will use whatever topics have to do with horsemeat then.

But my point is that looking at this angle on the subject helps to separate and distinguish the issues.

For example, the issue of the mislabelling is about mislabelling. And yet for some people, who let their emotions guide their choices and actions, they have a learned repulsion inside to the idea of eating horse, which is fueling their discontent even MORE then the fact that they were lied to!

That repulsion is emotional- it is irrational, or at best, personal preference- and it will not get anyone far in a lawsuit and it actually serves to muddle peoples minds.

So I find it beneficial that we work on neutralizing the irrational emotional parts, so that minds will be better equipped to fight. Get over the "Ew Yucky" and back to the actual issue!
"Deny Ignorance" and all that ..... becoming informed and educated often aids with such conditioned irrational reactions.

I do not challenge your right to have a preference in meats, I only argue your claims about facts beyond your personal preference-

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
It has been viewed, rated and ranked as second level junk meat for as long as I've been around to hear about grades of meat for human consumption. As such, it's CHEAP meat. hence.. junk meat.

It is actually more expensive and considered much finer in Europe, than beef. Not only nutritionally, but taste and texture wise too.
Specific breeds of horses are raised specifically for the purpose of eating.

This is what I mean about getting the emotional conditioned reactions out of the way to discern fact from feeling.

YOU may feel it is a junk meat.... and your particular society may only choose to package and sell products acording to the cultural preferences the people have learned- that does not mean anything about the quality of the element.

There are products that cannot be found in some other countries, that are very nutritional, but because of the culture, they are not to be found on the market shelves. Jello makes Europeans grimace with disgust and therefore doesn't exist here... neither does ground turkey meat.
People are beginning to eat corn a little bit now, but twenty years ago, I was met with laughter and mockery when I said we eat corn- "that is an animal food!! "they said. "Bunch of farm animals, those americans!"

We absolutely have the right to our preferences, but I think recognizing that is all they are is important, for many reasons.

reply to post by Trackhunter


omg no way. I would never eat horse meat. Bad enough a lot of race horses that don't cut the mustard end up at the doggers.

sad.

Originally posted by Bluesma
It is actually more expensive and considered much finer in Europe, than beef. Not only nutritionally, but taste and texture wise too.
Specific breeds of horses are raised specifically for the purpose of eating.

It's not more expensive actually. There is much less demand for horse meat. That's why it was a fraud when they sold better quality horse meat as beef. Kinda f'ed up but that's how it is.

reply to post by PsykoOps


Nope. Not here at least. There is less demand, but that is partly why it is more expensive.

The meat that was in those products did not come from stock bred and raised for consumption. They came from slaughterhouses in Poland and Romania, that slaughter anything without discretion.

Even beef from those countries is cheaper because sanitary norms are not respected- we're talking animals that have been fed and injected with all kinds of substances, and in some cases are slaughtered because they are diseased!

If nothing else, this should wake up the consumer- not to the fact that they may have eaten a horsie,
but that these processed products contain meat (even beef, chicken, pork, whatever..) that would be judged unfit for human consumption in most countries. That is why it is "junk meat", no matter what animal it came from.

THIS is the kind of thing people would do better to focus on instead! Did anyone consider that the companies find it in their favor that everyone focuses on the ew factor that it was horse and NOT on the fact that it was infected, diseased, and chemical filled meat?


Actually, on second thought, I remembered that the US and EU are in conflict over sanitary and phytosanitary measures in regards to meat- in the US, hormone treatments are legal, as are GMO's and many other things.
So perhaps americans are so used to that stuff it simply is not an issue for them.
In Europe the issue is different.

On the world markets horse meat is cheaper than beef. Beef has been increasing in value alot.
Also none of the test I've read about had any health issues discovered so these were normal horse meat from poland and romania.

global auction price for beef has topped $5,300 (£3,500) a tonne.
Horsemeat, by contrast, currently costs about $1,200 a tonne.

Just one Source.

The meat was not tested for everything. For example growth hormone treatments, antibiotics......
What it had been tested for was bacteria and infection that could occur during or after the slaughtering process.
Only in the case of Findus were tests done for Bute.

"The meat company explains that it “bought horses from farmers when animals reached the end of their working life or families could not afford to care for them” and “That had happened more frequently during the economic downturn.”

-YaleGlobal
yaleglobal.yale.edu...

Some experts and UK government officials have raised concerns that horse meat from Romania could be contaminated with equine infectious anemia (EIA).
Although EIA does not pose a risk to humans, it could be an indicator of additional health problems in horses that may stem from poor living conditions.
Since 2007, the European Union has restricted export of live horses from Romania to any other EU member state unless the animals have a Coggins test for EIA prior to export.
Environment secretary Owen Paterson stated that "Romanian horse meat is not allowed in", though he acknowledged concern if Romanian horse meat had been imported from animals with EIA.

en.wikipedia.org...

For those who do not know what Bute is-

Phenylbutazone
Concerns arose over the possibility of horse meat containing traces of the veterinary drug phenylbutazone entering the human food chain, although horses which have been treated with it may not legally be supplied for human consumption.
The drug, commonly known as bute, is used as an analgesic in horses.
Phenylbutazone is used therapeutically in humans as a treatment for ankylosing spondylitis when other treatments are not suitable. The effect on humans of low-level exposure over an extended period has not been extensively formally studied. High incidences of focal necrosis were found in female rats fed low doses of 1,2-diphenylhydrazine over time. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) residues risk causing rare, but potentially fatal side-effects in humans.

A subsequent review of 206 horse carcasses slaughtered in the UK between 30 January and 7 February 2013 found eight were contaminated with phenylbutazone, six of which had been shipped to France.

There is also speculation that some horse meat from the United States, where phenylbutazone is commonly used, may have entered the food chain via Mexico and then been exported to Europe.
One reason for this is that Spanghero had purchased meat from a company, Draap, whose owner, Jan Fasen was previously convicted for fraud; as long ago as 2007, Draap had labelled horse meat imported from Mexico and South America as Dutch or German beef.

The primary concern is horse meat from the United States: up to 15% of horses sent to slaughter in Canada or Mexico are former racehorses that have been given drugs during their racing career, such as phenylbutazone, which are approved for use in horses but not humans and carry the warning "Do not use in horses intended for human consumption." Further, they are given medication at levels that led a research veterinarian to call them "walking pharmacies". These animals may have meat too toxic to eat safely.

Inquiry into horse meat sources in the UK also revealed that Aintree racecourse has a contract with a licensed slaughterhouse in West Yorkshire to remove dead Grand National race horses. It is illegal for horses euthanized by injection to be put into the human food chain. Many chemical agents used for animal euthanasia leave residues in the meat which may be harmful to humans, and have caused sickness and death in animal predators and scavengers. "

^There's the cheaper "junk meat"- which is so because we make it so- not because it is it's nature.

I shudder to think of the amount of new age freaks that will rush off and buy this...

Originally posted by Bluesma
The meat was not tested for everything. For example growth hormone treatments, antibiotics......
What it had been tested for was bacteria and infection that could occur during or after the slaughtering process.
Only in the case of Findus were tests done for Bute.

Can you source that claim? Afaik it was tested and nothing dangerous found. In here it was labelled safe to consume which would indicate full testing.
Lots of could've, might be and such but nothing that says "it's dangerous".

Horse meat seems reasonable choice, but' may get infected with Hendra virus ( Equine morbillivirus ) was discovered in September 1994 when it caused the deaths of thirteen horses and a trainer at a training complex in Hendra, Brisbane in Queensland, Australia.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

Yeah, this smells of C.Y.A. to me. Had the scandal(s) never occurred, this "study" and subsequent media coverage likely wouldn't exist IMO.

Well it's not like it's new information. Horse has been known to being better meat for ages. So this "study" is bit late. It just capitalizes on the timing. Also media coverage wouldn't excist. You are right about that.