OUTRAGE AS BRITISH HORSE MEAT SCANDAL WIDENS

OUTRAGE AS BRITISH HORSE MEAT SCANDAL WIDENS

courtesy: Guardian.uK

After initial reports of 'traces' of horse meat in British and Irish ready made dinners, the scandal now has widened like an oil spill, after reports that the presence of horse meat is much more widespread than initially thought. 

The use of horsemeat as 'filler' is something that the british do not seem to take well to.  A great sensibility has always existed in the use of horse meat in food production.  Horses are seen as a noble animal, although the use of horse meat goes back centuries and accepted in many countries.

What is at stake here is the fact that the use of such meat was not disclosed in the packaging literature, in clear violation of the food standards in the country.

A wide scale investigation has been ordered on a large number of prepackaged meat products, to assess how widespread the presence of the equine meat is.

In addition to horse meat, some products in Ireland seem to contain pig meat too, also a non-disclosed component of the food product.

In a latest development, a 'beef' lasagna product mass produced by a large food retailer was sampled.  Of the eighteen samples, eleven were found to be 80-100% horse meat. 

The implication of horse meat presence in food, especially in such large quantities, could be an indication of gross negligence on the part of the food production company.  

More worrisome is the fact that equine meat that has not been raised in a controlled environment and is not disclosed could contain chemicals that are not allowed in food production, such as 'bute', a tranquillizer that is often used by veterinarians. 

In the end, the scandal reveals a secretive practice of food producers, of using cheaper or undisclosed fillers in their product.  Ethical questions are raised on the company and on the food producing industry at large.

As the scandal widens, one can only hope that stricter controls and better rules are adopted to safeguard the consumer.  If these kind of problems can occur in a company based in a developed country, one has to question what can happen when such products come from locales where regulations are loose or non existant.

Adapted from NPR article

Source: NPR 2.10.13