Horse meat found in beef burgers in leading supermarkets - implications?

morebabies

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has said that horse meat has been found in some beef burger products on sale in supermarkets.
The meat came from two processing plants in Ireland, Liffey Meats and Silvercrest Foods, as well as the Dalepak Hambleton plant in the UK.
A total of 27 products were analysed, with ten of them containing horse DNA, while 23 of them tested positive for pig DNA.
Horse meat accounted for approximately 29% of the meat content in one sample from Tesco.
...However, it said that it raises concerns about the traceability of meat ingredients.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0115/horse-meat-beef-burgers.html

Ireland's 21st century traceability system has failed spectacularly here. A farmer I spoke to said he knew this was going on already. What? Horse burgers in Tesco? From paddock to fork?

whelan1

never buy burgers from supermarkets, did you ever see the amount of grease that comes out of them :eek::eek: home made burgers all the way here!

grazeaway

Saw that muppet covney on the news earlier, he was talking a fair bit of horse ****e too. Well I suppose now that the Celtic tiger is well an truly dead something had to happen to all those race horses every self respecting wannabe developer had to have.

Could always sell them to the French and Belgians!

enviro

29%, no excuse for that...

Jamesleacy501

It wasnt horse meat it was horse DNA.. Horse by-products were probably used as binding agents in the burgers or something!!!

whelan1

wonder was it the cheapy tesco ones or the tesco finest that the 29% was found in?

gowley

whelan1 wrote: »

wonder was it the cheapy tesco ones or the tesco finest that the 29% was found in?

every day value 8s frozen

gowley

Jamesleacy501 wrote: »

It wasnt horse meat it was horse DNA.. Horse by-products were probably used as binding agents in the burgers or something!!!

29% was found in one product.

Rented Mule

There's a good chance that I have bet on a few of those burgers.

Conmaicne Mara

From stable to table, every little helps (for Mr Tesco).

mf240

gowley wrote: »

29% was found in one product.

those cheap burgers contain over 30% binders/additives and simon was saying that this was imported to add to the mix.
He also said that there were no horses killed in the factory where they were produced.
So it was most likely the additives that contained the horse dna.

None the less the facts remain and its bad news.

mf240

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

From stable to table, every little helps (for Mr Tesco).

some serious horseplay going on, obviously blinkered by the profit.
Hopefully coveney will get out of the traps quick and whip these chancers into shape before we all get saddled with the consequences.

WellKiiid??

We now know where Shergar is!!!

Cavanjack

The only person that this will probably effect is the farmer. What's the betting on factory agents telling us in a week or so that nobody wants beef because of the news and quotes have fallen by a €kg.

1chippy

They should use del boy and rodney in their advertisement campaigns.

gowley

mf240 wrote: »

those cheap burgers contain over 30% binders/additives and simon was saying that this was imported to add to the mix.
He also said that there were no horses killed in the factory where they were produced.
So it was most likely the additives that contained the horse dna.

None the less the facts remain and its bad news.

always blame the suppliers.no excuse that they were imported. 29% isnt a trace

Bizzum

So folks, keep it fresh and keep it local.

The 29% is an outrage. It will take some explaining!

flutered

mf240 wrote: »

those cheap burgers contain over 30% binders/additives and simon was saying that this was imported to add to the mix.
He also said that there were no horses killed in the factory where they were produced.
So it was most likely the additives that contained the horse dna.

None the less the facts remain and its bad news.

it has been claimed elsewhere that one of the factorys concerened have a conviction for angel dust.:eek:

whelan1

after all the effort that has been put into tracebility i cant believe the factories have done this

mf240

whelan1 wrote: »

after all the effort that has been put into tracebility i cant believe the factories have done this

ya we as farmers do everything in our power to produce a quality product and then they go and act the cnut.

Just shows how little respect they have for the consumers and us as suppliers.

bogman_bass

Lads I cant tell you how angry I am about this! We are bending over backwards to make the product that the coustomer wants and then we get the rug pulled from under us like this! This story wont stay within Ireland and we could well lose markets because of it.

And you can bet your bottom dollar that Larry and co will use it as an excuse to pull prices.

:mad: This is a bloody disgrace!

Dairynewbie

I think the whole meat industry needs to be examined. Look at dairy industry. the milk is tested. And if you fcuk about you don't get paid.

If you don't observe withdrawal periods you get fined.

The meat processors should be fined by the dept and the money returned in some way to the producers. Instead what will happen is the factory's will reduce the price to the producers to maintain their profits.
If they ruin the beef industry it's the farmers who will suffer.

By the way I don't mind horse meat it's fine I had it on holidays once. But if consumers want beef they should get beef. What's next lamb with traces of cat...

WellKiiid??

Its them damn Monganeese (Monaghan People). ABP Ballyhay (IE 565 EC) in monahan seem to be the main culprits for it, they have 5 products out of 7 tested which contained horse DNA. And of those 7, 6 contained less than 79% beef content!

Nearly all the 27 brands of burgers tested contained pig DNA.

The burgers containing horse DNA were:
Tesco Everyday Value Beef Burgers, Oakhurst Beef Burgers, St Bernard Beef Burgers, Moordale Beef Burgers, Tesco Beef Quarter Pounders, Moordale Ultimate Beef Burgers, Moordale Quarter Pounders, Flamehouse Chargrilled Quarter Pounders, Iceland Quarter Pounders, Iceland Quater Pounders.

Look at these and see for yourself!!

http://www.bordbia.ie/industryservic...qamembers.aspx

http://www.fsai.ie/uploadedFiles/New...ts_2013_01.pdf

robp

Coveney may have put his foot in it by saying there probably is human DNA in the burgers also on the RTE news today. He meant in a harmless way from human handling but these comments can be very easily misinterpreted.

Janey Mack

bogman_bass wrote: »

This story wont stay within Ireland and we could well lose markets bescause of it.

WellKiiid?? wrote: »

Nearly all the 27 brands of burgers tested contained pig DNA.

Was talking to a friend who lives in Hungary and it's made the news over there. He reckons it will have an impact on Ireland's reputation. The pig DNA also seems to be as big an issue there (will upset Muslim consumers).

Stheno

Is the moral of the story here to stick to local craft butchers, and not buy any meat that has been processed beyond being butchered?

whelan1

robp wrote: »

Coveney may have put his foot in it by saying there probably is human DNA in the burgers also on the RTE news today. He meant in a harmless way from human handling but these comments can be very easily misinterpreted.

was watching him there on primetime, is this the first time he has been put uner real pressure since he became minister, i didnt think he did a great job tbh... he didnt explain what the vets actually do in the factory, surely its not their job to see if horsemeat goes into the final product

gowley

Stheno wrote: »

Is the moral of the story here to stick to local craft butchers, and not buy any meat that has been processed beyond being butchered?

wouldnt agree with that. whatever we think of the supermarkets they all buy heaps of irish meat. without them the farmers would have nowhere to sell their animals

whelan1

Stheno wrote: »

Is the moral of the story here to stick to local craft butchers, and not buy any meat that has been processed beyond being butchered?

out of interest how much are those cheapy burgers that had the 29% in them? do you get what you pay for, would also be interested to see chicken nuggets tested

WellKiiid??

Janey Mack wrote: »

Was talking to a friend who lives in Hungary and it's made the news over there. He reckons it will have an impact on Ireland's reputation. The pig DNA also seems to be as big an issue there (will upset Muslim consumers).

Maybe not the pork so much as they eat halal foods, or is there factories in Ireland that slaughter the Halal way?

gowley

whelan1 wrote: »

out of interest how much are those cheapy burgers that had the 29% in them? do you get what you pay for, would also be interested to see chicken nuggets tested

there are sausages out there with 30% pork chicken nuggets are made from reformed chicken which is the bits that are disgarded from other products companies are making.

Stheno

gowley wrote: »

wouldnt agree with that. whatever we think of the supermarkets they all buy heaps of irish meat. without them the farmers would have nowhere to sell their animals

whelan1 wrote: »

out of interest how much are those cheapy burgers that had the 29% in them? do you get what you pay for, would also be interested to see chicken nuggets tested

Fair enough, I tend to buy meat in the butchers to be honest, or my local supermarket which tell you what farm the meat has come from each week. Rarely buy any sort of processed stuff apart from meatballs in the local butcher that they make up themselves.

hfallada

Like will probably damage the reputations of companies that made the burger. But will our exports to contiential Europe be affected probably not. They sell horse meat beside beef in the supermarket.

Like our pork exports have recovered. But even in like 2007/2008 a few dozen people dead from e coli found in prepared meat coming from Ireland and it had no effect on our exports

gowley

WellKiiid?? wrote: »

Maybe not the pork so much as they eat halal foods, or is there factories in Ireland that slaughter the Halal way?

there may be some but abp or liffey meats dont do the halal way

hfallada

Halal is only pointing the animal towards Mecca saying a prayer and cutting its throat. Or even some just use a knife that has a prayer inscribed on it. It was in the Sunday times magazine last year.

They mention that most places won't openly label they're factories as processing halal meats for fear of arson. That's in the uk anyways so it may not be the same

WellKiiid??

gowley wrote: »

there may be some but abp or liffey meats dont do the halal way

I searched and could only find one Halal factory! Dunleavy Meats in Mayo! I dunno if any of their burgers were tested! I doubt it because the burgers tested were from large stores and Halal is generally sold in specialised shops i think!

Manoffeeling

For years it was always McDonalds who were perceived at be serving poor meat to customers, when all along it was our trusted supermarkets.

gowley

WellKiiid?? wrote: »

I searched and could only find one Halal factory! Dunleavy Meats in Mayo! I dunno if any of their burgers were tested! I doubt it because the burgers tested were from large stores and Halal is generally sold in specialised shops i think!

they may have been tested but not listed as problems. the factories with issues are liffey meats silvercrest foods part of abp which is larry goodmans and dalepak in the uk

Bizzum

There are a couple of separate considerations here. The trace equine/porcine DNA showing up in a beefburger is a bit of a non issue really. There are all sorts of adjuncts added to meat to produce a burger, filler, binding agents etc. Porcine DNA would surprise you where it turns up.

The 29% equine DNA in the beefburger is a completely different kettle of fish. I'm gobsmacked at how this can be the case. I can't comprehend how this could be the case. It absolutely stinks to high heaven.
As farmers we have fully bought into tracability at no inconsiderable cost. We deliver into this world, rear, and deliver a top notch product to the butchery line, and for what? Slight of hand and skullduggery, as far as I can see (and I hope I'm wrong). I can only see this as damaging to the industry. As is often the case the farmer will pay the greater cost.

redzerologhlen

I don't know what to say here because other regular posters have said what I am thinking but I am utterly disgusted by this. It portrays a very bad image for Irish beef which is produced to such a high standard. It's really unfair on the consumers and I am glad we have our own beef so as we don't have to eat that tripe. Hopefully we won't lose access to any of our export markets over this.

drunkmonkey

Are my Lidl stakes actually 100% beef or have liffey valley been messing with the cows. Do they do any of their own farming.

gowley

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Are my Lidl stakes actually 100% beef or have liffey valley been messing with the cows. Do they do any of their own farming.

most of the fresh meat in lidl is fully traceable to irish farms in lidl. the burgers mentioned were frozen.

mf240

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Are my Lidl stakes actually 100% beef or have liffey valley been messing with the cows. Do they do any of their own farming.

your steaks are fine.
The burgers in question are the cheapest crap that you can buy and while this by no means excuses what is an allmighty fcuk up, they bear no relation to prime cuts of (non processed) beef.

blue5000

Saw this on bff

Dear Mr Tesco Please reassure me that your shepherds pie is made with 100% shepherds.

gowley

mf240 wrote: »

your steaks are fine.
The burgers in question are the cheapest crap that you can buy and while this by no means excuses what is an allmighty fcuk up, they bear no relation to prime cuts of (non processed) beef.

hardly the cheapest crap.big als and superquinn tested for porcine in their beef burgers

Maudi

Jamesleacy501 wrote: »

It wasnt horse meat it was horse DNA.. Horse by-products were probably used as binding agents in the burgers or something!!!

29% is more than binding agents id say.

mf240

gowley wrote: »

hardly the cheapest crap.big als and superquinn tested for porcine in their beef burgers

If your quick theyll probably be on special offer tommorow:D:D

Seriously though were the 29% ones really cheap ones?

sellerbarry

Don't really see why all the big fuss. People eat cows,and pigs that roll around in s h i t all day. Wouldn't see a horse doin that.

WellKiiid??

sellerbarry wrote: »

Don't really see why all the big fuss. People eat cows,and pigs that roll around in s h i t all day. Wouldn't see a horse doin that.

Its all about traceabilty!

gowley

mf240 wrote: »

If your quick theyll probably be on special offer tommorow:D:D

Seriously though were the 29% ones really cheap ones?

yea every day value from tesco. whats getting lost in all of this is they were all frozen burgers. most of the supermarkets fres offering in meat is all irish and good.meant to say fresh

Stheno

mf240 wrote: »

If your quick theyll probably be on special offer tommorow:D:D

Seriously though were the 29% ones really cheap ones?

Yes, earlier in the thread it was posted they were the tesco value burgers.