Horsemeat in Irish burgers

pennypocket

What's the story with horsemeat in Irish burgers for sale in the major multiples? I thought we had one of the best meat traceability systems in the world. Silvercrest, one of the largest meat processing companies in Ireland blame the problem on continental suppliers. I don't buy frozen burgers myself, I prefer to buy the meat from a butcher and make my patties fresh. Indeed, I don't buy any meat from supermarkets at all, my dad's stories (he is a butcher and cattle dealer by trade) put me off buying meat there a long time ago. Let's just say, he has many memories of the Goodman era ;-)

But, in my mind, this incident puts the entire traceability system (from the high end to the low) into disrepute. How can we trust the retailers when they say they have sourced meat from a particular supplier? (There is also the get-out clause of 'produced in Ireland' for 'value-added' products, even if the chicken, let's say, was sourced in Thailand).

Just because the product is cheap and on the frozen food shelves doesn't let them off the hook. I am reminded of the book Fast Food Nation and the e-coli outbreak in the US in the late 1990s, where the writer found that in a typical fast-food burger the meat could be derived from many beef sources and from multiple regions in the United States (The chapter on the meat-factories who produce burgers for McDonald's, is, in one phrase, eye-opening, and with a long history in the US going back to the Chicago meat-packers, Upton Sinclair and his whistle-blowing, The Jungle). This is a worrying event in terms of our claims to be the best and cleanest food producers globally.

Plus, I might add, there is nothing wrong with consuming horsemeat, it is a delicacy in many European countries, especially France. But, as consumers, we need to trust what manufacturers' say are in our foods. Better regulation needed?

Sala

This is very worrying - I would always assume you could rely on the ingredients list on processed food and make up your mind on it. Some people won't eat certain meats for religious reasons and should absolutely be able to rely on food labels. And what about people with allergies, or even just those who choose not to eat certain additives - if there is horse meat in packaged burgers of large supermarkets I would not trust their other products to be accurately labelled either. Disgraceful

The Hill Billy

I eat horse flesh regularly here in Switzerland, but if I buy a meat product labelled as 'beef' I damn we'll expect it to be beef. The implications for traceability of products, not to mention trust in the meat processing industry will be large & far-reaching, I hope.

Random_Person

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2013/0115/breaking61.html
Seems to be confined to the cheaper burgers from all the supermarkets but it's also notable how most of the meat came from the same 2 Irish plants i.e. all cheaper burgers are much the same. Looks like those two plants will be put under a lot of scrutiny because of this.

I wouldn't have a problem eating horsemeat although it's a different story when it's randomly found mixed in with beef, no knowledge of its origin to be found. The article also says pork was found in some beef-product samples which should, but won't be, just as reported as horsemeat being found. I think the main thing taken from this story isn't that our beef has been "contaminated" with horse but that meat-processing plant standards aren't regulated well enough.

WellKiiid??

Jasus everyone on this is a cattle dealer I agree with what your saying but its not horse 'meat' in the burgers its horse DNA thats in them! Binders are a big part in burger making and its more than likely that the binder used was made from a by product of the horse meat industry!

gowley

WellKiiid?? wrote: »

Jasus everyone on this is a cattle dealer I agree with what your saying but its not horse 'meat' in the burgers its horse DNA thats in them! Binders are a big part in burger making and its more than likely that the binder used was made from a by product of the horse meat industry!

horse dna in most but there was 29% found in the tesco product kid and thats more than dna whatever way you look at it and im no cattle dealer

WellKiiid??

gowley wrote: »

horse dna in most but there was 29% found in the tesco product kid and thats more than dna whatever way you look at it and im no cattle dealer

How do you think it got in there?

gowley

WellKiiid?? wrote: »

How do you think it got in there?

lol. havent a clue but im glad i dont eat those frozen burgers

Reoil

(Sorry)

The Hill Billy

I bought some burgers yesterday - And they're off!!!

wonderfulname

Random_Person wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2013/0115/breaking61.html
Seems to be confined to the cheaper burgers from all the supermarkets but it's also notable how most of the meat came from the same 2 Irish plants i.e. all cheaper burgers are much the same. Looks like those two plants will be put under a lot of scrutiny because of this.

I wouldn't have a problem eating horsemeat although it's a different story when it's randomly found mixed in with beef, no knowledge of its origin to be found. The article also says pork was found in some beef-product samples which should, but won't be, just as reported as horsemeat being found. I think the main thing taken from this story isn't that our beef has been "contaminated" with horse but that meat-processing plant standards aren't regulated well enough.

If you see the stats on the fsai site in most cases it appears to be trace amounts, with the exception of 29.1% horse DNA in Tesco value burgers, trace amounts can be explained away as loose import standards and imperfect hygine practice in processing, it's likely unintentional, 29.1% on the other hand is hard to look at in the same light, hence the concentration on Tesco and horsemeat.

loveisdivine

To be honest the whole thing is just really off putting. It higlights that no matter what the packet says, you really cant be sure whats in it.
If they use some sort of horse/pig by product for binsing or something then fine, but people should know that its in there. I guess it also highlights that people dont know enough about where the meat comes from and whats put into it.

Between stories like this and those about animal abuse/welfare at farms and processing plants, it just pushes me one step closer to being vegetarian. I enjoy eating meat, but I dont want to support the meat industry.

Asok

While it's not the nicest thing to happen (Horse is pretty much cheaper than beef here!) It will hopefully cause them all to be under much more scrutiny over the cross contamination.

The Hill Billy

Asok wrote:

While it's not the nicest thing to happen (Horse is pretty much cheaper than beef here!) It will hopefully cause them all to be under much more scrutiny over the cross contamination.

I'd imagine that what has ended up in those burgers is not something that a horse butcher would sell you or I here in Switz.

Asok

To be honest I could probably say the same about the beef content too

Granted I'm sure some of the cheapo burgers in COOP and Migros are questionable.....

Splinters

http://oi48.tinypic.com/w70y9f.jpg

newspower

I am sure of one thing - This is not going to look good for Irish beef products that are being Exported to other countries. How can we talk about traceability of Meat products when we have two Irish companies selling Beef products to suppliers with Horse Meat in them.

johnwest288

For once were actually get MORE then we paid (bargained) for... :P

aujopimur

I can't comment on the horsemeat, but i can on the pork being added.
If you think it's pork as we know forget it.
My daughter worked in a pighead proccessing plant which removed all traces of meat from the head by a combination of mechanical and manual means including power hoses.
It was supplied to burger and icecream makers to mention a few purchasers.
The term used when ordering the product was "pigsh1te"

LaChatteGitane

aujopimur wrote: »

I can't comment on the horsemeat, but i can on the pork being added.
If you think it's pork as we know forget it.
My daughter worked in a pighead proccessing plant which removed all traces of meat from the head by a combination of mechanical and manual means including power hoses.
It was supplied to burger and icecream makers to mention a few purchasers.
The term used when ordering the product was "pigsh1te"

Oh well. The meat of pigs head is rather lovely and tender. I am a firm defender of using everything from the animal as opposed to taking the leanest cuts and throwing out the rest.

rubadub

gowley wrote: »

horse dna in most but there was 29% found in the tesco product kid

I was shocked to hear about the tesco value burgers -not the horse bit, but that they had so much actual meat in them.

pennypocket

LaChatteGitane wrote: »

Oh well. The meat of pigs head is rather lovely and tender. I am a firm defender of using everything from the animal as opposed to taking the leanest cuts and throwing out the rest.

True, the meat is lovely. But that is not what mechanically recovered 'meat' is.

notmadetolast

Horse Burgers safe to eat "Honestly give them a go..! :rolleyes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKoJ2FcnVjo

Havent been late for the bus once.. :pac: !

the beer revolu

I reckon a great publicity stunt for a burger restaurant would be to advertise and serve 100% traceable horsemeat burgers this week.

rubadub

the beer revolu wrote: »

I reckon a great publicity stunt

Paddy power got their stunt in

The company are also offering odds on "the next species reported to have contaminated beef burgers sold in Irish or UK supermarkets".

Next species to contaminate Irish “beef” burgers
2/1 Deer
4/1 Dog
6/1 Rabbit
16/1 Squirrel
33/1 Zebra
40/1 Swan
40/1 Greyhound
100/1 Lion
100/1 Penguin
1000/1 Bigfoot
2000/1 Unicorn

hardCopy

rubadub wrote: »

Paddy power got their stunt in
http://www.worldirish.com/attach/18511

They're always very quick and clever with their marketing. I wonder were they actual horsemeat burgers or was it a joke? If they were horsemeat, did they shift many on the day?

In a roundabout way this event could end up creating a market for horsemeat in Ireland.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Irish firm Silvercrest Foods have been dropped by Burger King, losing a giant client like that is obviously not good. What a fine mess this has turned into.

BostonB

I don't understand why they needed to import anything to produce burgers. Ruins all credibilty tbh.

paulbok

Latest reports say that it was ingrgdients imported from Poland that were the source of the horsemeat.
I'm guessing that on the bargin burgers that were affected by this, they would have on the ingredients something like, beef 64%, rusks 4% so the imported "ingredients " from Poland make up the rest.
Does anyone know what exactly this would/should consist of? mechanically recovered meat? Fat? :eek:
It's worrying that this crap that goes in as filler can be purchased cheaper abroad. Whats wrong with Irish crap?:P

hardCopy

paulbok wrote: »

Latest reports say that it was ingrgdients imported from Poland that were the source of the horsemeat.
I'm guessing that on the bargin burgers that were affected by this, they would have on the ingredients something like, beef 64%, rusks 4% so the imported "ingredients " from Poland make up the rest.
Does anyone know what exactly this would/should consist of? mechanically recovered meat? Fat? :eek:
It's worrying that this crap that goes in as filler can be purchased cheaper abroad. Whats wrong with Irish crap?:P

Mechanically recovered Irish beef sludge is probably in use by the same companies but it goes into the Finest/Choice/Premium/Selected beef burgers.

Constant downward pressure on costs has suppliers looking for anything that can reduce the price.

Regulation needs to apply constant pressure to maintain a minimal standard, but consumers also need to be informed as to what is in their food so that they can apply pressure through their purchase choices. Labelling regulations are extremely convoluted and misleading. E.G. "Irish stuffed chicken" may not mean the same as "Stuffed Irish chicken".