Eating horsemeat?

[IAM]

http://news.yahoo.com/horsemeat-found-taco-bell-uk-beef-latest-tests-145002876--finance.html

Not picking on taco bell they are not the only ones that are having this issue. But it bothers me more that they don't know what's in the meat than the idea that it's horsemeat. As long as animals are slaughtered in a relatively human way i don't care as much about which animal.

 

[Borachio]

Yes. It's absolutely about the not knowing what you're eating. Would anyone be fine with soylent green?

 

[Leonel]

Horse meat would be a vast improvement to what they usually put in taco meat.

 

[Borachio]

Yeah. And they bulk out a lot of processed meats with chicken feathers? Did you know that?

 

[GoodSarmatian]

The problem isn't that it's horse meat, the problem is that customers didn't/don't know where the meat comes from, but we really shouldn't be surprised that our western CHEAP MEAT NOW attitude leads to fraud and corner cutting.

Fun fact: I read a story this week about a butcher in Hamburg who specializes in horse meat. He used to have mostly regulars, but the recent scandal has triggered an influx of curious new customers.

 

[Lillefix]

When I think of horse meat I think of some old(I think of horse meat as inherently old), chewy and tough meat. But the real problem is the implications of horse meat in food in which there was not supposed to be horse meat. If you can't trust that you have the correct species, what can you trust about the meat?

 

[Angst]

I'd love to try horse meat.

Y'know, it's not only horse meats that are found. Also, there has been found a few traces of pork in ground beef during this scandal thing. It's disturbing - I mean, what about the Muslims and Jews who decide against pork?

Knowing what you eat is a new right, but an important one. It has to be upheld.

 

[~Corsair#01~]

If they sold pure horse meat next to "value mince" in the supermarket for the same price I would go for the horse any day of the week. Even if it was up to 10% jockey.

 

[Farm Boy]

Horse meat is usually considered cheap and old because for a long time and even now you generally don't raise horses simply for meat production. If you are using the animal for something else you probably only process it for meat once it's old, and old meat is tough. Being a "spring chicken" is tasty. Being an old hen is probably going to be soup.

 

[Disgustipated]

Yes. It's absolutely about the not knowing what you're eating. Would anyone be fine with soylent green?

Soylent green sounds very healthy and good for you. Tell me more about Soylent Green.

 

[Kaitzilla]

Goodbye Taco Bell!

Putting America's 2nd favorite animal in your food is about the dumbest thing since pink slime. I'd rather eat the pink slime!

 

[Disgustipated]

Goodbye Taco Bell!

Putting America's 2nd favorite animal in your food is about the dumbest thing since pink slime. I'd rather eat the pink slime!

I think taco bell's here in the States are fine. I'll never give up taco bell. Well actually Ive given up all fast food, but I may still eat taco bell once a year.

 

[bathsheba666]

Stick with english sausages - only the finest sweepings from the abbatoir floor.

 

[ace99]

Edit: Well that was weird.

 

[Arwon]

The actual issue is safety and regulatory standards. Horse meat is meat like any other, but the unidentified meat going into food can contain things which are harmful to humans (tranquilisers for instance, plus potentially disease) and there's no way of tracking origins and ensuring quality control, like there is with a more regulated beef industry.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

I wouldn't mind trying horse meat. I hear it is considerably healthier than beef.

It should be clearly labelled though. It certainly should not be in any product labelled as kosher, since horse meat is an unkosher as pork.

Horse meat is usually considered cheap and old because for a long time and even now you generally don't raise horses simply for meat production. If you are using the animal for something else you probably only process it for meat once it's old and old meat is tough. Being a "spring chicken" is tasty. Being an old hen is probably going to be soup.

It is true that meat from older animals is generally tougher than meat from young animals, but horse meat is supposed to be an exception to that. Meat from elderly horses is actually much more tender than meat from foals.

There is actually a tradeoff between taste and texture in most meats. A muscle that is exercised over the life of the animal typically becomes tougher (and darker) but also develops a more robust (which is often considered "better") flavor.

You don't really get that trade off with horse meat. Meat from older horses is still more flavorful (and darker) despite becoming more tender.

I doesn't make a lot of sense to raise horses just for food, as you'd have to support the animal for many more years before it reaches its peak quality. Horses also require much more food that ruminants to to produce the same amount of meat.

 

[GhostWriter16]

Taco Bell should have to pay damages for fraud. I'd probably try horse but I don't want to do so unknowingly.

 

[IAM]

I thought that horse meat (in the western world) was primarily used in animal feed (meat eating zoo critters) and dog food and as has been stated was old horses that had... retired. IF that is true then it makes me wonder if dog/animal food has found it's way into human food products. Are the same processing facilities being used for animal and human food in some cases?

 

[warpus]

I'd love to try horse meat.

Y'know, it's not only horse meats that are found. Also, there has been found a few traces of pork in ground beef during this scandal thing. It's disturbing - I mean, what about the Muslims and Jews who decide against pork?

Knowing what you eat is a new right, but an important one. It has to be upheld.

I guess we'll just need to start putting "May contain horse" stickers on things like we do with the "may contain peanuts" stickers that you see on some things that should just not contain peanuts or nuts at all, or totally should, like bags of peanuts.

And I know that it's a big deal and all, but Jews and Muslims don't *actually* get punished by God if they eat pork. So if it happens by accident, and from time to time it probably does, and nobody finds out, then it's not like anything really changes. It's only when they figure out that it's pork that they feel that they've violated their internal moral compass. So I suppose educated Muslims and Jews, and those who have read this story and others like it, have to now live with the realization that in some parts of the world meats may just contain pork.. or horse. or peanuts. or whatever. If you really care about such things there are ways of taking more direct precautions to minimize pork consumption even futher - you can stop eating meat altogether.. or live in a place where pork is usually not served.. or I guess most realistically make sure you know exactly where your meat is coming from. That just seems to be the reality of modern food distribution. It is scary. Pretty soon we're all going to be eating "there is a 60% chance of this containing 20% pork"

 

[AlpsStranger]

I know it's irrational, but if I ever found out somebody fed me Dog meat ( without my knowledge ) I would be nearly murderous. If someone offered it to me I'd politely turn it down, but if I were tricked into eating it I don't know how I'd react.

I guess I consider eating dog to be nearly cannibalism. It's just a cultural/personal thing. I'm not judging other people who eat dog meat( I know it's perfectly normal for some people, ) but I would rather not participate.