Just say neigh: Horsemeat in burgers horrifies UK

 
No Author Published: January 17, 2013    Comment on this article Leave a comment

photo - A sign of Tesco supermarket is seen at a branch in Purley, south London, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013. The Irish food safety watchdog said Tuesday that it had discovered traces of horse and pig DNA in burger products sold by some of the country's biggest supermarkets. Tesco that authorities said was made of roughly 30 percent horse. Tesco, the country's biggest supermarket chain, took out full-page newspaper ads Thursday Jan. 17, 2013 to apologize for an unwanted ingredient in some of its hamburgers: horsemeat. Ten million burgers have been taken off shop shelves after the revelation that beef products from three companies in Ireland and Britain contained horse DNA. Most had only small traces, but one type of burger sold by Tesco was 29 percent horse. The contrite grocer told customers that "we and our supplier have let you down and we apologize." (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
A sign of Tesco supermarket is seen at a branch in Purley, south London, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013. The Irish food safety watchdog said Tuesday that it had discovered traces of horse and pig DNA in burger products sold by some of the country's biggest supermarkets. Tesco that authorities said was made of roughly 30 percent horse. Tesco, the country's biggest supermarket chain, took out full-page newspaper ads Thursday Jan. 17, 2013 to apologize for an unwanted ingredient in some of its hamburgers: horsemeat. Ten million burgers have been taken off shop shelves after the revelation that beef products from three companies in Ireland and Britain contained horse DNA. Most had only small traces, but one type of burger sold by Tesco was 29 percent horse. The contrite grocer told customers that "we and our supplier have let you down and we apologize." (AP Photo/Sang Tan)

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Animal-rights campaigners including actress Brigitte Bardot have made little headway against the horsemeat trade, though concerns have arisen over animal welfare. In Belgium, the supermarket chain Lidl stopped selling horsemeat in 2011 after concerns about the treatment of animals by its Latin American suppliers.

Some of the horsemeat eaten in Europe comes from Britain, whose love of horses doesn't stop it from sending thousands of horses a year abroad to be killed for meat.

THE HEALTHY ALTERNATIVE?

Fans of horsemeat say it is extremely healthy: low in cholesterol and fat, high in protein and omega-3 acids.

"I think it's delicious," said Caroline Roddis, a freelance writer who organizes Flogging a Dead Horse, a series of dining events at which horsemeat is served. "It is slightly sweeter than beef and it has got such a good depth of flavor it is hard not to like it."

Roddis reports a healthy interest in her London events, which draw as many as 50 British and foreign diners a night to sample the delights of horseflesh.

She hopes the "horseburger" scandal will make people think more about what they eat.

Officials say the source of the contamination may be a powdered beef-protein additive imported from Spain and the Netherlands to pad out the cheapest burgers, which typically contain between 60 and 70 percent meat alongside flour, water and other fillers.

"We don't really think (about) what we are putting in our mouths," Roddis said. "You go to the supermarket and you buy something that looks pinkish and has a label and you don't really think about where it comes from. I think we've really lost touch."

CHANGING TASTES?

The handful of hardy entrepreneurs who sell horsemeat in Britain say the scandal has — paradoxically — been good for business, raising the profile of a meat few had considered.

"We've been very busy the last couple of days," said Paul Webb, director of Exotic Meats, a company in the English Midlands that sells horse burgers, sausages and steaks alongside cuts of crocodile, kangaroo and impala.

He says typical horsemeat buyers are "middle-aged, middle-class people who want to try something different."

"We've done some radio phone-ins, and 90 percent of the comments were 'I'd try it,'" Webb said.

But not everyone was convinced: "Some people say, 'I have a horse. It'd be like eating my grandmother.'"

Jill Lawless can be reached at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless

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