Food Matters: Horsemeat scandal has eaters nervous
My monthly (first Sunday) column in the San Francisco Chronicle is now out, this time on the horsemeat scandal.
Q: It makes me sick to think that anyone could eat horsemeat. I don’t see how it could get into so many foods. Tell me how I can be sure I’m not eating it.
A: From this side of the Atlantic, the discovery of horsemeat in European hamburger and frozen dinners is the most riveting of scandals, replete with DNA technology, veterinary drugs, impossible-to-trace supply chains, smuggling, organized crime and outright fraud – not to mention the usual finger-pointing, cover-ups and protestations of shock that accompany food crises.
It is easy to explain how horsemeat got into vast amounts of hamburger and prepared meals. Horses are expensive to house and feed. Something has to be done with them when they are no longer wanted for farming, transport, racing or recreation. Horsemeat is edible, even delicious to some, and costs less than beef.
Complications
In Europe, the supply chains are exceptionally complicated, involving countless companies in more than 21 countries that process, transport or sell horses or horsemeat. The complexity makes it relatively easy to use horses to smuggle people or drugs, to label horsemeat as beef or to slip it into hamburger.
This would just be a matter of economic fraud if people didn’t care whether they ate horsemeat. But some Europeans, and most Americans, care very much. Like you, many people are appalled at the idea of eating any companion animal, let alone one symbolic of the rugged West.
Beyond cultural prohibitions, there are other reasons to avoid eating meat from horses not raised for food. Horses are routinely treated with veterinary drugs, legal and not. The drug traces found in European horsemeat may be too low to cause harm, but hardly seem likely to promote human health.
How long horsemeat has been passed off as European beef is unknown, as is why officials in Ireland decided to do DNA tests on supermarket meals in the first place. Whether done as routine testing or because of a tip, the results were startling. More than one-third of the tested “beef” samples contained horsemeat. Later tests in Great Britain identified “beef” meals made entirely from horsemeat.
This, as the Guardian’s writer Felicity Lawrence wrote in her guide to the scandal, can only be “industrial scale adulteration.”
The ensuing crisis forced many food companies and retailers to recall vast numbers of products, some intended for school meals. Nestlé (no relation) recalled pasta meals, but issued assurances that such products do not leave Europe and that none of its American products contains horsemeat-laden European beef.
What to make of this? In our food studies programs at New York University, we discuss food as a marker of cultural identity. People in other nations eat horsemeat. But like you, about 80 percent of Americans are appalled at the idea of eating horsemeat and oppose slaughtering horses for food or any other reason.
Yet horsemeat used to be eaten by Americans (and still is, by some), and even more so by pets. As Malden C. Nesheim and I wrote in our book about the pet food industry, “Feed Your Pet Right,” horse slaughterhouses created pet food companies to dispose of the meat. Through the 1940s, nearly all domestic horsemeat ended up in pet food.
Under pressure from horse lovers and animal welfare advocates, pet food companies replaced horsemeat with meat from other animals. Although horsemeat is permitted in pet food, and in theory could show up in rendered byproducts and meals, no American company would knowingly use it as an explicit item in an ingredient list. One can only imagine the uproar if it did.
Inspection issues
In 2007, Congress blocked the Department of Agriculture from inspecting slaughterhouses, effectively banning their use. As unintended consequences, the 140,000 or so unwanted horses each year had to be transported to slaughterhouses in Canada or Mexico, and populations of neglected and abandoned horses increased. As a result, Congress permitted horse slaughterhouses to reopen last year, but the USDA has yet to authorize inspectors to work in them.
Could American beef be contaminated with horsemeat? We had a similar scandal in the 1950s. But if U.S. officials are testing hamburger for horsemeat DNA these days, they aren’t saying.
Because horsemeat is not produced here, it won’t be in butcher shops or supermarkets – unless the stores imported it or acquired contaminated products before the recalls, or unless the USDA assigns inspectors and allows horse slaughterhouses to reopen. Right now, without DNA testing, you can’t be sure.
You find this alarming? Short of going vegetarian, you have an option: Buy kosher meat. Jewish dietary laws prohibit horsemeat – horses are not ruminants and do not have cloven hooves – and kosher slaughterhouses are diligent about excluding forbidden animals.
This gives the horsemeat scandal one clear winner: Sales of kosher meat are booming.
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Comments
The scandal has two facets. On one hand our global food supply and incessant demand for lower prices and greater profits drives this kind of behavior. The dishonesty reflects a capitalism run amok.
The second issue is mostly a reflection of what society considers “good to eat”. I just purchased a cook book from my family’s homeland featuring the regional cuisine of Puglia in Italy. This region is known for nurturing the slow food movement and is the location of an Oldways event next month, Culinaria Italia. The author acknowledges the traditional use of horse meat in the recipes. This region is known for nurturing the slow food movement and is the location of an Oldways event next month, Culinaria Italia. For those of us without good access to horse meat, the author generously allows the use of beef.
This is so strange to me. I was told during the Prop37 debate that the European system is exactly what we needed–that there was this swell “farm to table” setup that was really what we should be aiming for in the US. Of course, and that GMO labels solved everything there.
Right.
According to news accounts, the USDA is likely to OK the opening of the first horse meat slaughter house in New Mexico quite soon. So yes, horse meat will very likely have a chance to enter the ground beef in this country. The only way to prevent this is to encourage Congress to pass a ban on horse slaughter.
Also note that older horses are not wanted for most horse meat production because the meat isn’t high enough quality. Opening horse slaughter houses in this country will have little or no impact on the number of unwanted horses in this country (not the least because European rules demand a lifelong province for the horse and an abandoned horse is missing such).
Frankly, neither horse nor cows are the best sources of protein—not if we’re looking for sustainable sources of protein. We’d be better to stick with poultry, fish, or plant proteins. And it’s hard to slip horse meat into a can of tuna.
I remember when my father was working in NY City in the 1970s, someone opened up a horsemeat butcher shop near the racetrack and called it The Belmont Steaks. We have a horsemeat butcher just up the street from us in Montréal; it’s the only meat he sells and he gets plenty of customers. But I agree that the issue here is not horsemeat but the fact that when you buy beef you expect to buy beef, not beef with horsemeat mixed in.
I agree and appreciate that transparency in the food chain is the biggest issue here in conjunction with the ramifications of eating meat not designed to be eaten (vet drugs, lack of regulation). But I have trouble understanding why people are up in arms about eating horsemeat in general. Why is eating a horse less ethical and more appalling than eating a cow or pig? Thanks for pointing out that this is a cultural phenomenon.
It doesn’t appear that American ground beef (or any other ground meat) is being checked for contamination with horse meat or other meats. Through Food Safety News reporter Helena Bottemiller, the American Meat Institute (AMI) was asked a question I posed: Are companies in the US testing for horse DNA in ground beef?
AMI’s answer (tweet) is below, along with a link to an article they posted on the topic:
@hbottemiller @nyshepa No US horse slaughter + no EU beef imports among many reasons horse meat in US highly unlikely http://blog.meatami.com/2013/02/reasons-why-the-u-k-horse-meat-scandal-wont-happen-here/
Shelley,
“Frankly, neither horse nor cows are the best sources of protein—not if we’re looking for sustainable sources of protein. We’d be better to stick with poultry, fish, or plant proteins. And it’s hard to slip horse meat into a can of tuna.”
libertyblitzkrieg.com has a post today entitled: “New Study Shows 59% of “Tuna” Sold in the U.S. Isn’t Tuna” – about a study by Oceana
The post goes on to say:
It seems that “white tuna” should be avoided in particular as “84% of fish samples labeled “white tuna” were actually escolar, a fish that can cause prolonged, uncontrollable, oily anal leakage.”
YUMM!
Sorry, the post about tuna at http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/ was posted on March 1, 2013.
This is an emotional subject for horse owners. I do not want my beloved pets stolen from their pasture to be in YOUR dinner. I hope those who eat horse get poisoned by bute. You are inhumane. Vegetarian is the best option.
To me, the issue is not whether or not you eat horse. It’s the demonstration of a corrupt food supply and ineffective inspection. A supply chain is only as good as the weakest link. It’s obvious that food safety inspections focus only on what they expect to find.
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My issues with horsemeat aren’t that it’s a companion animal. If we lined them up and an expert rifleman shot them in the head, I’d be a lot more likely to consider eating horse, but with current methods it’s a process that causes pain and suffering. Horses are very intelligent, sensitive creatures but are slaughtered similarly to cows–the result is that the stun-bolt does not work properly and can be incredibly cruel. Unlike cows horses DO feel fear when they are shipped to the facilities, and they don’t have the same instincts, so the handling methods are very inhumane.
I feel that glossing over that information does a disservice to those of us who object for humane reasons–it’s not about horses being better than cows.
You can always buy direct from a farmer. Many farmers will offer up cattle to be butched in the spring and fall before they go to sale. I’ve bought my beef solely from farmers for years. I know what they have fed and treated my cow with. I can tell the butcher what I want & how lean I want it. KEY-know the butcher too. There are some bad news butchers out there.
Not only do you know exactly what you are getting, BUT it is cheaper than what you can find at Whole Foods.
“I agree and appreciate that transparency in the food chain is the biggest issue here in conjunction with the ramifications of eating meat not designed to be eaten (vet drugs, lack of regulation). But I have trouble understanding why people are up in arms about eating horsemeat in general.” My thoughts exactly. The Mongols were known for drinking blood from their horses for sustenance while on a long journey. That way the didnt kill their horse. But sometimes they did when they could spare a horse.
Surely someone could find a use for the old, unwanted horses if a slaughter house could take them whether for human consumption or not. Crawdad farmers need protein to feed their crawdads. Pellets for fish farms? Lawn fertilizer? I dont know. There is a technology for turning slaughter house waste into fuel. Why not make gas for your cars from the horses?
I almost forgot to mention, with this sequestration facing us, its said that there may be fewer inspectors in the meat packing facilities. Could this problem increase? So, glad congress is deadlocked on trying to reduce unnecessary government spending.
Yeah right, inspecting food production is an unnecessary burden on business and beyond the scope of government? Please…
As a point of clarification to Marion’s comments about Kosher beef, many large packing plants do both regular and Kosher slaughter in the same plant on the same line with the same facilities. They just have an appointed day or time when the Rabbi or his designee is present to conduct the Kosher ritual. While some small local meat lockers will butcher sheep, hogs and cattle in the same facility, large packing plants are set up to just kill one specie, so there is no chance for cross contamination of meat within the plant.
I am so very glad that I am a vegetarian. However, I am more than happy to feed horse meat to my dog as long as the slaughterhouse is designed by Temple Grandin or someone who does similar work.
[...] Source: http://www.foodpolitics.com/2013/03/food-matters-horsemeat-scandal-has-eaters-nervous/ [...]
This subject just breaks my heart. My family has spent the last ten years rescuing horses from slaughter sales only to have this happen in our country!! And TR, you are correct, sequestration will reduce the number of USDA inspectors for processing facilities and meatpacking facilities, so we can expect to have problems. Politics make me scream and then weep.
Europe’s 2013 horse meat scandal brings up a much larger issue than merely unlabeled horse meat in processed food: that of all mystery meats included in processed foods, both frozen and fast foods.
U.S. meat inspection laws have been quietly, but quite significantly, diluted over the past few years for imported meats. And the USDA’s country-of-origins labeling rules have loopholes to prevent U.S. consumers from knowing whether or not they are buying imported meats.
At least western European governments are testing for unlabeled horse meat sold to their citizens, and publicly releasing the results of testing.
Europe’s horse meat findings could very well the “canary in the coal mine” for processed foods ingested in the United States, too.
I write about this in depth here: http://www.fakefoodwatch.com/2013/03/how-to-avoid-eating-horse-meat-other.html
It is really sick to be seeing these stories about horse meat making its way into the food supply, and even more shocking to see how pervasive it is. With the government itself involved opening up wild horse slaughters in the Southwest, I have to wonder if they did not turn a blind eye to this practice given their actions likely resulted in a large potential source for the meat.
I am also really glad I live in South America after hearing about this. One thing you are not going to find down here is anyone substituting horse meat down here – they really take their “carne” seriously, and it would probably be very hard to mistake for the real thing down here. Once you have tasted South American beef, it is really hard to imagine eating the overly processed stuff produced in North America again.
[...] here: Food Politics » Food Matters: Horsemeat scandal has eaters nervous Author: youngleinfo Comment: No Comments Tags: advocacy, agriculture, animals, books, [...]
The government isn’t involved in opening up wild horse slaughterhouses in the Southwest. The owner of a former cattle slaughterhouse wants to slaughter horses in the same facility. Because the Federal Meat Inspection Act provides for the inspection of equines, and USDA is no longer prohibited from using its approriated funds to perform horse slaughter inspections, FSIS is between a rock and hard place. Unless it can find a problem with the operator of the slaughter establishment or the facility itself, it really can’t refuse to assign inspectors to the plant.
I have been investigating this meat issue in the US. Some of your information appears misleading. A USDA inspector must be onsite at time of slaughtering of all animals in the US. They see the animals alive, the slaughter & the carcasses after. While slaughter of horses is not outright banned in the US, there are currently no pending applications for horse slaughterhouses. US does not allow horses to be raised for human, nor pet, consumption. We used to export, but it ceased to be done. Necessity for veterinary records are a challenging factor. Old “useless” horses my be cheap, but tracking veterinary records raises energy expenditure and that is what has not been done abroad as the trading of that meat has largely been knowingly done under the table, mislabeled to avoid keeping proper and safe records.
Yes I am in total agreement that there is an extreme paucity of talk about DNA testing on ground beef in the US. Apparently there is widespread confidence that the US system is intact, or no one wants to know for fear of spreading panic. I have been told by the USDA that if I want to do it, I will be on my own. I have not yet found actual reports of DNA testing having been done. Fortunately I have a lab willing to DNA Barcode for me. I’m just one private individual wondering about it. You may follow my investigation on facebook.com/WonderingDrDupont. Perhaps I will be the very first to announce actual results.
[...] Posted marzo 8, 2013 by Ana Maria Quispe in alimentos, salud. Etiquetado:ADN, adulteracion de alimentos, alimentos para mascotas, carne de caballo, EEUU, escandalo, europa, industria de carnes, kosher. Dejar un comentario Read original article from Dr. Marion Nestle blog here [...]
I was shocked when I came across this piece of news a few weeks back. Thank god, I do not eat beef.
However, if they are able to do this with beef, I am sure they will able to do it with other meat sources. Don’t you all agree?
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I concur with the general disgust at the reopening of horse slaughterhouses in the U.S. and the potential for horsemeat finding its way into the U.S. food supply. This is especially of concern regarding meat sold to schools and low income food programs. How will the sequestration and it’s reduction in meat/food inspectors affect this process? Will we just see the meat enter the food supply, inspections be damned? Or will the slaughter of companion animals for food be postponed until adequate inspectors are available?
I think this is just the tip of the iceberg. I predict many more scandals like this will come to light now that the processed meat industry is under so much scrutiny.
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