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Horsemeat, contamination scandal ?


tj
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The fuss is about the fact that the contents declaration was false. They were labelled as 100% beef when they clearly weren't.

There was also the risk that the horsemeat coud contain traces of a drug called "Bute" that can cause blood disorders in humans

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[quote user="Rabbie"]

The fuss is about the fact that the contents declaration was false. They were labelled as 100% beef when they clearly weren't.

There was also the risk that the horsemeat coud contain traces of a drug called "Bute" that can cause blood disorders in humans

[/quote]

yes, abit naughty the labelling, but, there is no evidence the endusers, birdeye, findus etc were complicit.

As clearly stated by health minister, there was no risk whatsoever, paracetamol used daily by millions causes irreversible liver damage..

This whole affair comes down to uneducated population being spoon fed some nonsense, there is nothing wrong with horsemeat, and is popular all over europe, the most expensive of meats, and makes the best sausages,,,,

 

 

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[quote user="tj"]there is nothing wrong with horsemeat, and is popular all over europe, the most expensive of meats, and makes the best sausages,,,,

 [/quote]

Ah, thanks for enlightening us. And there was I believing all this stuff about them using horsemeat because it was cheaper...[Www]

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[quote user="You can call me Betty"][quote user="tj"]there is nothing wrong with horsemeat, and is popular all over europe, the most expensive of meats, and makes the best sausages,,,,

 [/quote]


Ah, thanks for enlightening us. And there was I believing all this stuff about them using horsemeat because it was cheaper...[Www]

[/quote]

[:-))]

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[quote user="Hoddy"]Eating horsemeat isn't all that widespread. Only about 2% of the French population eat it. According to what I read in the Sud-Ouest there is only one horsemeat butcher in the whole of the Dordogne. Hoddy[/quote]

Probably because the area is full of Ex-Pats running animal sanctuaries. [Www]

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[quote user="Hoddy"]You don't say where you live NickP. Are there lots of horsemeat shops in your area ? Enough to account for 2% of the French population ? Hoddy[/quote]

Not in Surrey Hoddy we don't, I have yet to see a horse meat shop in Walton on Thames, Hampton court or East Molesey. But I do believe that about 4% of the French population live in Kensington. So next time I'm in Knightsbridge shopping, I'll enquire. [:D]

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[quote user="Hoddy"]Eating horsemeat isn't all that widespread. Only about 2% of the French population eat it. According to what I read in the Sud-Ouest there is only one horsemeat butcher in the whole of the Dordogne.

Hoddy[/quote]

I wonder if that figure takes the horse meat sold in supermarkets into account? (3 Leclerc and 1 Géant that I know of around here.)

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As reported in the Independent, some of the horse meat may actually be Donkey.

We are only told there is horse meat in the beef because that is what they are testing for. What else is there in the "meat" that they are not testing for. 100% beef only means that it comes from a cow, not necessarily muscle. MRM meat in sausages in the UK was cleaned from the bones of animals using high pressure water jet, then squeezed into that pink stuff in sausages. If they reduced the prices by half, people would still happily buy the products. They certainly cleaned the shelves of beef in Portsmouth when they reduced the price during the BSE scare!

All the majority of people care about is getting stuff as cheaply as possible, otherwise they would not be buying the stuff in the first place (IMO).
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[quote user="Lehaut"] If they reduced the prices by half, people would still happily buy the products. They certainly cleaned the shelves of beef in Portsmouth when they reduced the price during the BSE scare! .[/quote]

Yep, and I was one of them. Why? Because the meat was reduced because no-one was buying it because they'd been convinced by the media that there was a real risk of them buying beef contaminated by BSE. In fact, there was no risk, but the adverse publicity dissuaded people from buying. Managed to fill my freezer with some bargains.

This time round, we're fortunate. Don't buy ready meals, or indeed sausages (which I hate), so to be honest, if they start giving them away, I'm still not interested.[:D]

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Exactly Betty and you were not alone, we did exactly the same thing. As somebody said about the BSE thing it can be many years before it manifests itself in humans so if what they said was true we all potentially had it anyway.

To my mind its not just the beef thing or frozen meal thing. I don't have a clue for example if Bio veg is still very expensive in the UK? I can remember the only difference I could see was the Bio stuff didn't seem to be washed and was twice the price. Then there is free range eggs and if I really thought about it a lot of other things like tinned meat (Ravioli, corned beef etc). All we have to go on is what the supermarkets or the food producer tells us, we have to take their word that what we are buying is whats in the tin so to speak. We are in a way at the mercy of the supermarkets and food industry. Even in the high street, visit you local butcher, how do you know the beef you are buying is not injected with hormones or the free range chicken is actually free range, because he says so!

I think the minister for food or whatever he is called is right. It is not for the government to check all the food to see if it says it is was it is, it is the job of the supermarkets and retailers. What the government should do is random testing on a small scale but make the penalty for those that mislabel food so large that it really hurts their pocket, I am thinking a percentage fine of their turnover (as opposed to profit), perhaps 25% for example. That will make them stop and think twice before doing anything dodgy.

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I don't have a clue for example if Bio veg is still very expensive in

the UK? I can remember the only difference I could see was the Bio stuff

didn't seem to be washed and was twice the price. Then there is free

range eggs

Yes it is more expensive but the  box of organic veg stuff we get direct from a farm is far fresher and superior in taste,  same for free range eggs. I will pay more for these even if the veg takes more washing and preparation. I will also pay more for good quality meat and just eat less of it.

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I wonder how many people could actually tell the difference in taste from "farm fresh" produce to "Joe Soap" stuff.

When I first came to France I went in for growing my own veg and couldn't believe how much work was involved so I gave up after a couple of back breaking years and now just buy what's in the supermarket. I am a sucker for buying the top price eggs because it says the chickens live in a holiday camp but I imagine one yolk is the same as the next. In my cynical opinion Bio is just an excuse for upping the price.

Funnily enough, the news about horse meat being mixed up with donkey reminded me that in our family, for years we have referred to Bovril and Marmite as "Donkey Jam".

Years ago when I had a business and went through some periods of shortages I remember hearing about somebody had put a sign in their window that said "Panic buyers welcome here".

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[quote user="Lehaut"]I think, Cendrillon, you have hit the nail on the head here. Buy the real stuff, eat less of it and you kill two birds with one stone, the need to contaminate to keep the price down, and obesity![/quote]

I think some people are missing a point or two,  just because some spiv in a farm shop or butchers says" it's bio/real", are you sure? Also where is the proof that people who buy bio/real eat less? [Www]

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Interesting this, 'cos it was the subject of another of our spouse-to-spouse conversations last week. (We've been on holiday, hence in each other's company 24/7, hence talking about stuff we'd normally never discuss).

Tomatoes. One of the rare items (IMO, you may disagree) which actually taste completely different if you grow them yourself. So much so that I only really eat them when I HAVE grown them myself, or when my neighbour has.

Courgettes. If anyone can seriously tell me that a home-grown one, or an organically grown one, or a supermarket bought one differ in any way whatsoever, then I will take to eating them at every meal. I think "courgette" should be spelled "bland" because they have no recognisable taste that I have been able to discern, whatever their provenance. I can't see the attraction of growing them, yet growing them seems to be a legal requirement if you live in France.

Butternut squash. Organic or otherwise, they look exactly the same on the supermarket shelves. I know this for a fact, as I frequently accidentally pick up an "organic" one (at a premium price) when they are placed immediately next to the non-organic ones in Tesco. Organic ones come in the same variety of shape and size as their pesticide-infected counterparts, and I've sometimes even come all the way home before realising I've bough organic, and I haven't fallen into raptures once it's been cooked and vowed never to waste my money on non-organic again, because the taste, to me, is indistinguishable from the cheaper ones.

Vegetable boxes and chickens are, I'm sure, jolly fine things to keep/do/subscribe to. I can't see why I should do either. I think we probably get through half a dozen eggs every month or two, at most, and I'm not sure I want to get a surprise package of vegetables once a week and then have to reorganise my menu planning accordingly, when it's so much simpler to plan a menu, buy the vegetables I need to execute it, and in the quantities I require, without any waste or being railroaded by their presence in my veg basket into cooking stuff I don't want or need to cook.

However, when my French neighbour gives me the odd few eggs from her chooks, and I transform them into omelettes or whatever, I've been struck by how filling they are. So much richer than any I've bought in the supermarket. So in that particular case, I can see how you might "eat less". In my own case, eating fewer eggs would probably mean none at all.

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[quote user="Cendrillon"]just because some spiv in a farm shop or butchers says" it's bio/real", are you sure?

Yes I am

Also where is the proof that people who buy bio/real eat less? Whistles [Www]

I don't think I said that was the case I just stated my preference.

[/quote]

Yes I am

So the spiv in the farm shop buys his carrots in Tesco's, then drags them through the mud; and your sure?  Well done Cendrillon you're belief that your a better judge of human nature than an old cynic like me is admirable

I don't think I said that was the case I just stated my preference.

I don't think that I said you did.  [:D]


 

 

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[quote user="Cendrillon"]just because some spiv in a farm shop or butchers says" it's bio/real", are you sure?

Yes I am

[/quote]

But how, do you stand guard over the fields to ensure the veg is not sprayed or whatever?

See the word is 'trust' and you obviously trust your farmer and he/she is probably a very trustworthy person but what this current situation has shown is that we can't trust the food chain. The only way with veg is to grow them yourself but unfortunately not all of us know how, have the ground to grow them in or simply no time.

It is the same with meat. In most cases you are relying on the butchers experience when he buys the carcass and his supplier and the information he gave the butcher when he buys the carcass who in turn relies on the farmer who raised the animal in the first place.

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Well our veg box is delivered to our house by a very good supplier so I am prepared to "believe". With this supplier I can change my order so that I know what to expect in the veg box and sometimes it has even made me try something I would never have considered.

I appreciate that some people will never be convinced but I know what I like and what I am prepared to pay for.

Now back to the soup making[;-)]

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