Poland Caught Slaughtering Sick Cows

topnotch

Secret footage from Polish abattoir of shocking practices.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/27/secret-filming-shows-sick-cows-slaughtered-for-meat-in-poland

CosmicFool

The Vegans are going to have a field day with this one. It's disturbing all the same that meat coming from sick cows is going into the market.

TallGlass

Wonder if we will see a recall now of Polish meat.

Still waters

CosmicFool wrote: »

The Vegans are going to have a field day with this one. It's disturbing all the same that meat coming from sick cows is going into the market.

I'd expect the meat eaters to be more indignant about the fact there potential steak is carrying something detrimental to their health, there's no point trying to blame the vegans, this is all down to farmers and the factory

And in fairness we should all be having a day with this, hopefully the plant will be shut down and the owners and staff brought before the courts

_Brian

Simple solution is buy Irish and if possible buy from a local butcher who slaughters local stock.

Where we buy beef we see local farmers I know delivering stock for slaughter 2-3 times a week.

If your buying 12 burgers for €1 in Tesco then good enough for whatever muck they’re passing off to ya.

893bet

Is there anyone really surprised?

Anyone naive enough to think the odd beast that had antibiotics etc isn’t slipped though Irish meat house?

topnotch

Here is a link to the video. It’s in the article but I didn’t see it at first.

https://www.tvn24.pl/superwizjer-w-tvn24,149,m/chore-bydlo-kupie-chore-krowy-sprzedawane-na-mieso-i-ubijane-w-rzezniach,903977.html

CosmicFool

Still waters wrote: »

I'd expect the meat eaters to be more indignant about the fact there potential steak is carrying something detrimental to their health, there's no point trying to blame the vegans, this is all down to farmers and the factory

And in fairness we should all be having a day with this, hopefully the plant will be shut down and the owners and staff brought before the courts

Did i say i was blaming vegans???. I'm just saying they'll use this to further their agenda. It is disturbing that this still happens but not surprising in countries like Poland where basic Health & Safety is pretty much ignored. It's not the first time it's happened there either. Hopefully they'll suffer financially and bring in proper controls.

older by the day

CosmicFool wrote: »

Still waters wrote: »

I'd expect the meat eaters to be more indignant about the fact there potential steak is carrying something detrimental to their health, there's no point trying to blame the vegans, this is all down to farmers and the factory

And in fairness we should all be having a day with this, hopefully the plant will be shut down and the owners and staff brought before the courts

Did i say i was blaming vegans???. I'm just saying they'll use this to further their agenda. It is disturbing that this still happens but not surprising in countries like Poland where basic Health & Safety is pretty much ignored. It's not the first time it's happened there either. Hopefully they'll suffer financially and bring in proper controls.

You would want to br fuc#king stupid not to realise that the vegans are targeting all of us at the moment. You might think I'm paranoid but look up who is funding the eat Lancet reports,

Who2

It wouldn’t be so bad if it made consumers more aware of the importance of proper traceability and Irish meat but I can see it as all farmers being tarred with the same brush and just handing the whole vegan movement another stick to try best is with.

Genghis Cant

Mod note..... Lads let's leave out the vegan discussion, this story is harrowing enough without getting sidetracked into veganism.
Stick to topic please. Thanks. GC

Effects

older by the day wrote: »

You would want to br fuc#king stupid not to realise that the vegans are targeting all of us at the moment. You might think I'm paranoid but look up who is funding the eat Lancet reports,

There's a hierarchy. Of course they'll go after the pricks treating animals the worst first.

older by the day

Who2 wrote: »

It wouldn’t be so bad if it made consumers more aware of the importance of proper traceability and Irish meat but I can see it as all farmers being tarred with the same brush and just handing the whole vegan movement another stick to try best is with.

it's not about consumers or treatment of animals my friend, watch for yourself the next few year, its all about getting reducing meat intakes and increasing sales of other processed foods. I bet you any money

EdgeCase

The EU need to stamp VERY hard on this kind of thing as it damages trust in the regulatory regime and damages other countries' global reputations by association.

Basically, if any EU member state is failing to implement food safety standards, it needs to face dire consequences including no longer being able to participate in the single market for those products if the situation is problematic enough or unresolvable.

topnotch

I don’t think the lessons of the horsemeat scandal have been learned. The whole meat traceability is a joke which will be proven if they do a recall. They don’t know where half this tainted meat has gone. Too many middle men in the supply chain.

It’s ironic considering all the talk of Brexit, where people were talking of cheap meat (chlorinated chicken etc) being allowed into the UK as part of new trade deals. Surely there must be an advantage in us being part of this single market. I see rigorous DNA testing as the only real way of controlling this issue. It worked well when proving Pork was mislabeled as of Irish origin. Are the consumers prepared to foot the bill, i fear not.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31504213

EdgeCase

Consumer behaviour across Europe isn't uniform either. You get different priorities and different consumer cultures.

There's a very strong focus on traceability here and I think it probably stems from the BSE crisis but also just proximity to agricultural production as you see similar in France in many respects too. They want to know where things came from. British consumer culture is similar.

When I was in Germany, I felt the focus was more on bio / organic labelling and far less about traceability and people seemed much more price sensitive. I actually feel worried / bad about buying cheap meat as it usually means some compromise was taken to get that price and that could either impact my health or animal welfare or some farmer is getting prices that aren't too comfortable.
I don't feel like meat, dairy or veg and fruit to be squeezed to very low margins.

I just didn't feel that in Germany (or in the US which obviously isn't part of the EU). It was like people were just not seeing beyond the price point sometimes and it wasn't lack of spending power. It's more just that it's so commoditised and so far removed from any idea where it actually comes from.

Whereas in France it was the other extreme, I know people who drive 40km to go to a specific butcher.

gozunda

A very poor reflection on Poland. However food adulteration and mismanagement is not new unfortunately. See: https://www.history.com/news/food-fraud-a-brief-history-of-the-adulteration-of-food
Such illegal and underhand practices are unacceptable in any country.

topnotch

Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” written in 1904 is definitely worth a look.
Led to some major reforms in the US at the time, including the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 which is as relevant today as it was then.

_Brian

EdgeCase wrote: »

Consumer behaviour across Europe isn't uniform either. You get different priorities and different consumer cultures.

There's a very strong focus on traceability here and I think it probably stems from the BSE crisis but also just proximity to agricultural production as you see similar in France in many respects too. They want to know where things came from. British consumer culture is similar.

When I was in Germany, I felt the focus was more on bio / organic labelling and far less about traceability and people seemed much more price sensitive. I actually feel worried / bad about buying cheap meat as it usually means some compromise was taken to get that price and that could either impact my health or animal welfare or some farmer is getting prices that aren't too comfortable.
I don't feel like meat, dairy or veg and fruit to be squeezed to very low margins.

I just didn't feel that in Germany (or in the US which obviously isn't part of the EU). It was like people were just not seeing beyond the price point sometimes and it wasn't lack of spending power. It's more just that it's so commoditised and so far removed from any idea where it actually comes from.

Whereas in France it was the other extreme, I know people who drive 40km to go to a specific butcher.

I don’t think most consumers care about traceability here, most don’t care where their meat comes from. I’d consider Irish consumers price driven, give them cheap red stuff in a pack and they’re happy.

Bass Reeves

_Brian wrote: »

I don’t think most consumers care about traceability here, most don’t care where their meat comes from. I’d consider Irish consumers price driven, give them cheap red stuff in a pack and they’re happy.

I think you are incorrect. The issue is that because the standard of food production is so high in the EU consumers consider that everything is AI, the same as when you buy a toy at Christmas or a TV. They presume that all standards are met. However as we know from the horse meat scandal the ethics of big business leaves a lot to be desired.

In danger there is opportunity, Bord Bia should be out hammering on about Irish traceability. But we need to be careful that we keep our standards up. However it si time we started being paid for it. This is what we are competing with, Brazilan rain forest beef, US hormone beef and now we see the ugly side of Polish beef. Nobody can produce beef at the lower cheaper prices with out there being issues.

Gawddawggonnit

EdgeCase wrote: »

Consumer behaviour across Europe isn't uniform either. You get different priorities and different consumer cultures.

There's a very strong focus on traceability here and I think it probably stems from the BSE crisis but also just proximity to agricultural production as you see similar in France in many respects too. They want to know where things came from. British consumer culture is similar.

When I was in Germany, I felt the focus was more on bio / organic labelling and far less about traceability and people seemed much more price sensitive. I actually feel worried / bad about buying cheap meat as it usually means some compromise was taken to get that price and that could either impact my health or animal welfare or some farmer is getting prices that aren't too comfortable.
I don't feel like meat, dairy or veg and fruit to be squeezed to very low margins.

I just didn't feel that in Germany (or in the US which obviously isn't part of the EU). It was like people were just not seeing beyond the price point sometimes and it wasn't lack of spending power. It's more just that it's so commoditised and so far removed from any idea where it actually comes from.

Whereas in France it was the other extreme, I know people who drive 40km to go to a specific butcher.

+1.

France is a fairly big importer of organic food because it doesn’t produce enough for the native market. However random testing of organic imports found a single figure % of produce contains pesticides.
Makes you wonder why would they endanger future business?

Likewise Irish AA beef was found not to be any where near purebred...that’s one way to get it off French supermarket shelves.

The quick buck cowboys can feck it up for everyone.

Never wrestle with pigs

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

+1.


Likewise Irish AA beef was found not to be any where near purebred...that’s one way to get it off French supermarket shelves.

The quick buck cowboys can feck it up for everyone.

This I always felt was AA and HE biggest mistake. Allowing the stock from the dairy herd get the bonus and be sold as AA or HE. This is very bad form in my opinion. If the bonus was for pure or 3/4 stock I think that people would actually get paid for their animals and an oversupply wouldn't happen.

People would obviously be getting better meat on the shelf too. It would grow the breeds much much stronger and true to the breed rather than producing scrap narrow low gestation bulls for the dairy market.

There would be a good market for the Heifers as breeders too where there virtually is no market for at present as the quality is so bad from having tunnel vision for producing bulls for the dairy herd.

EdgeCase

Ireland should be going way up the value chain, producing higher quality at higher price, not trying to compete with the mass market bottom feeders. It doesn't make any sense to me to be going for bulk + cheap, when we've got a potential to really go for serious 'value added' agricultural product that would mean less intensive farming, more income and less environmental burden.

Bazzer007

I would never be desperate enough even if I didn't have a penny to my name to leave animal that was unable to walk leave my farm. It takes a certain type of individual to tie rope around a crippled animal then drag it along the ground while in horrendous pain. If this happened in Ireland I would be truly ashamed to be Irish. I agree with other posters we need to sell Irish beef as a premium brand as there's enough cheap meat produced in other countries with questionable standards.

Rory28

EdgeCase wrote: »

The EU need to stamp VERY hard on this kind of thing as it damages trust in the regulatory regime and damages other countries' global reputations by association.

Basically, if any EU member state is failing to implement food safety standards, it needs to face dire consequences including no longer being able to participate in the single market for those products if the situation is problematic enough or unresolvable.

What would the penalties be for this? The EU spent the better part of 2018 bring Poland to court on one form of breaching EU law or another. They seem to more trouble than they are worth.

greysides

I think the Poles are starting from a very low base. Communism didn't do their country much good and they've a long way to come. Before we get all huffy, puffy and self-righteous, we should consider how long ago it would have been when things like this were happening here. Standards have changed, of course, and no one would go back but lets keep a little perspective. There's been no major epidemic of human death associated with this now, or in the past, AFAIK. Humans survived eons ago living on bad meat and we're still here. People in Asia regularly die after eating meat from animals that died from the Anthrax so there are human habits peculiar to regions that regulation must fight against.
I'm not condoning the actions in the video, just commenting on how I see things.
They flouted the rules, twice now by sounds of things, and I'd say they're headed into a storm, and not of the white stuff, so things will change.

yosemitesam1

Simpsons had it covered years ago!

"I want to clear up a misconception about the Wha-Cha-Ma-Carcass-Sandwich. I used non-diseased meat from diseased animals! Everyone does it!"

topnotch

greysides wrote: »

I think the Poles are starting from a very low base. Communism didn't do their country much good and they've a long way to come. Before we get all huffy, puffy and self-righteous, we should consider how long ago it would have been when things like this were happening here. Standards have changed, of course, and no one would go back but lets keep a little perspective. There's been no major epidemic of human death associated with this now, or in the past, AFAIK. Humans survived eons ago living on bad meat and we're still here. People in Asia regularly die after eating meat from animals that died from the Anthrax so there are human habits peculiar to regions that regulation must fight against.
I'm not condoning the actions in the video, just commenting on how I see things.
They flouted the rules, twice now by sounds of things, and I'd say they're headed into a storm, and not of the white stuff, so things will change.

The whole BSE crisis may not have been an epidemic but there was a considerable number of painful deaths from new variant CJD.

gozunda

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

+1.
France is a fairly big importer of organic food because it doesn’t produce enough for the native market. However random testing of organic imports found a single figure % of produce contains pesticides.

Makes you wonder why would they endanger future business?...The quick buck cowboys can feck it up for everyone.

One of the issue with organic crops and pesticides is that it is quite possible for those crops to become contaminated through drift spray carried from adjacent non organic crops. Ditto transport and accidental mislableing. Of course on top of those issues there is also the ones that will try to ride any system....

topnotch

You can’t do a test to prove something is organic which is the problem. When they tested fish, 28% was mislabeled as Cod when it was cheaper species. Both suppliers and retailers were involved yet nothing was done.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/mislabelled-cheap-fish-sold-as-cod-says-report-1.601435

kk.man

Bazzer007 wrote: »

I would never be desperate enough even if I didn't have a penny to my name to leave animal that was unable to walk leave my farm. It takes a certain type of individual to tie rope around a crippled animal then drag it along the ground while in horrendous pain. If this happened in Ireland I would be truly ashamed to be Irish. I agree with other posters we need to sell Irish beef as a premium brand as there's enough cheap meat produced in other countries with questionable standards.

What about loading it in a open trailer with straps?...I doubt the farmer dragged the animal along the ground.

kk.man

Odelay wrote: »

Did you read his post? He said he wouldn’t let an animal that couldn’t walk leave his yard?

Tie a rope...drag..horrendous pain....

Maybe I got it wrong

MrMaki

CosmicFool wrote: »

in countries like Poland where basic Health & Safety is pretty much ignored. It's not the first time it's happened there either.

And your assumptions are coming from what source? is Ireland also a country like Poland? I hear and read quite frequently about Irish companies working with food being closed due to very poor hygenic standards. the fact is that it has happened in Poland, but it does not mean that entire nation is doing the same.

I do want to remind you one thing - 2013 horse meat scandal - here in Ireland. google it for more info.

Odelay

MrMaki wrote: »

And your assumptions are coming from what source? is Ireland also a country like Poland? I hear and read quite frequently about Irish companies working with food being closed due to very poor hygenic standards. the fact is that it has happened in Poland, but it does not mean that entire nation is doing the same.

I do want to remind you one thing - 2013 horse meat scandal - here in Ireland. google it for more info.

Yep, and it was our government agency that uncovered it and did something about it. This led to other governments looking at their food chain and discovering it was much worse in other countries. Well done to the work done by food safety Ireland.

wrangler

kk.man wrote: »

Tie a rope...drag..horrendous pain....

Maybe I got it wrong

I had a 750 kg cow break a leg in the crush gate years ago, I just shot her,... at least her pain was over in minutes seconds

kk.man

wrangler wrote: »

I had a 750 kg cow break a leg in the crush gate years ago, I just shot her,... at least her pain was over in minutes seconds

Wrangler...we have a troll operating here.

Bazzer007

If you look at the video you'll see plenty cows being dragged along the factory floor and god only knows how the cattle were loaded.

Capercaillie

People should perhaps look at closer to home. Sheep being transported from Donegal to factories in Leinster. Not uncommon to see sheep crushed in large consignments....

Willfarman

Capercaillie wrote: »

People should perhaps look at closer to home. Sheep being transported from Donegal to factories in Leinster. Not uncommon to see sheep crushed in large consignments....

From further than donegal.. from Scotland and England via Northern Ireland. Used to bolster numbers to control price to local producers. Arrogant contempt for the producers that keep them there.

wrangler

Capercaillie wrote: »

People should perhaps look at closer to home. Sheep being transported from Donegal to factories in Leinster. Not uncommon to see sheep crushed in large consignments....

25 - 30000 transported from our group annually , 2 or 3 would be the most that'd be killed in the year and it wouldn't surprise me if they were sick going on, our hauliers are very careful