Give horsemeat-tainted food to poor - German minister

Rasheed · 24-02-2013 11:43AM

Reekwind wrote: »

There are two problems:

The first is the broader issue. For most people the problem was not that they were eating horse but that they're eating misidentified meat of unknown origin that has illegally made its way into the food chain. We simply don't know to what degree this meat is dangerous

But the particular problem with this minister, and some of the posts in this thread, is the casual snobbery on display. If this food is good enough for the poor to eat then it's good enough to be stocked in Tesco. There is something badly wrong with the idea that we give horsemeat (or, potentially dangerous unidentified foodstuffs) to the poor while the better off dine on safe, certified beef

It's not snobbery, it's common sense. You're right, why throw it out in the first place from Tesco? When the test were done on it and we were assured there was no risk involved, why not put a sticker on the burgers saying 'May contain traces of horse', put them at half price and let whoever wants to buy them, buy them.

If I was hungry, was trying to get protein into my diet, couldn't afford a butcher, I'd have no problem in the world with eating those products.

Reekwind · 24-02-2013 12:00PM

Rasheed wrote: »

It's not snobbery, it's common sense. You're right, why throw it out in the first place from Tesco? When the test were done on it and we were assured there was no risk involved, why not put a sticker on the burgers saying 'May contain traces of horse', put them at half price and let whoever wants to buy them, buy them.

If I was hungry, was trying to get protein into my diet, couldn't afford a butcher, I'd have no problem in the world with eating those products.

I'd have no trouble eating it at all, if it was certified safe. That's not the point though and it's not addressed the snobbery issue

If any politician stood up and suggested, as you not unreasonably do, that any horsemeat that was certified safe for human consumption be relabeled and put back on supermarket shelves then there would be uproar. The papers would go ballistic for a start. Yet apparently it's okay for this meat to be given, as charity, to the poor? That's not right and it real double-standard

Let this minister propose that the meat be certified as safe and then put back on the shelves. I'd have no problem with that. If if it's good enough for eating then let everyone eat it, not just those the minister considers beneath food safety standards

Real Life · 24-02-2013 12:03PM

I dont see the problem there, as long as they let them know what they're being given. Give it to me either i dont care. Theres no problem with it.

Rasheed · 24-02-2013 12:22PM

Reekwind wrote: »

I'd have no trouble eating it at all, if it was certified safe. That's not the point though and it's not addressed the snobbery issue

If any politician stood up and suggested, as you not unreasonably do, that any horsemeat that was certified safe for human consumption be relabeled and put back on supermarket shelves then there would be uproar. The papers would go ballistic for a start. Yet apparently it's okay for this meat to be given, as charity, to the poor? That's not right and it real double-standard

Let this minister propose that the meat be certified as safe and then put back on the shelves. I'd have no problem with that. If if it's good enough for eating then let everyone eat it, not just those the minister considers beneath food safety standards

I don't know, thankfully I'm not in the position where I can't afford meat, but if I was and was watching the news when all the burgers were being thrown out, I'd be disgusted.

We hear stories every day of how poor people are. Only have meat on certain days to save cost etc. At least give people have a choice. If they know the product may contain horse, accept there is no health risk, other than the possibility of Bute, and are willing to take them, let them.

If other people of limited means decide against taking it, for whatever reason, that their perogative too.

Herb Powell · 24-02-2013 12:44PM

Chuck Stone wrote: »

Em.. 'don't waste food' seems like a good idea to me.

Wouldn't poor people be glad of it?

This, right here, is the problem.

Fucck sake.

Sheeps · 24-02-2013 12:45PM

I'll have some if its going to be just thrown away

snubbleste · 24-02-2013 12:48PM

What happened to the supermarket ready meals and frozen meat that were cleared from shelves anyway

VinLieger · 24-02-2013 12:49PM

Ive been saying this since this whole debacle started, nobody wants to buy it so donate it to charities that feed the poor, several of them have actually requested it from the supermarket chains but have been refused

Antar Bolaeisk · 24-02-2013 01:03PM

marcsignal wrote: »

looks like we've all been eating it for ages*

*unless you're vegetarian

Have not you heard the latest scandal surrounding equine dna in broccoli?

So long as the food isn't harmful I don't see the problem with it coming back onto the market in one way or another. It would be terrible to just throw it all out with all the starving people in the world.

stateofflux · 24-02-2013 01:10PM

can't talk about germany (but i doubt its like famine torn africa). but i have never seen a 'starving' emaciated person in ireland ever or a poor person ever in desperation for food or horse meat

Reekwind · 24-02-2013 01:10PM

Rasheed wrote: »

I don't know, thankfully I'm not in the position where I can't afford meat, but if I was and was watching the news when all the burgers were being thrown out, I'd be disgusted

Now imagine how disgusted you'd be when someone said that this meat wasn't safe enough for stocking in supermarkets but it was okay if someone like you ate it. Because, you know, the poor are different from you and me

It's safety standards for those who can afford them

24-02-2013 01:22PM

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

The harsh reality is that the majority of this meat probably comes from knackers yards(no, I'm not referring to travellers) where carcasses have been picked up to be destroyed.

Surely you've heard what's in sausages? Gristle, cartilage, bits and bobs of a pig you wouldn't want to touch, let alone harvest. But when it comes in the packet you lose your sentimentality about these things and it's down to either "tastes good" or "tastes bad". I've had plenty of Tesco burgers and they always tasted good so it's no nevermind to me.

Reekwind wrote: »

Now imagine how disgusted you'd be when someone said that this meat wasn't safe enough for stocking in supermarkets but it was okay if someone like you ate it. Because, you know, the poor are different from you and me

But they're not being taken off the shelves for safety reasons really, they're being taken off the shelves because the shops in question want to distance themselves from the scandal ASAP.

Since the beginning of this I've been saying: Set up stalls in markets and sell the burgers marketed as being "scandal burgers" - me and the hipsters will eat them no problem!

Real Life · 24-02-2013 01:31PM

Reekwind wrote: »

Now imagine how disgusted you'd be when someone said that this meat wasn't safe enough for stocking in supermarkets but it was okay if someone like you ate it. Because, you know, the poor are different from you and me

It's safety standards for those who can afford them

Thats is bad, but i think people should be giving the choice if they want to buy it or not at reduced prices. I thought thats what this was about, but it seems like it was a more patronizing kind of move.

Reekwind · 24-02-2013 01:34PM

true-or-false wrote: »

But they're not being taken off the shelves for safety reasons really, they're being taken off the shelves because the shops in question want to distance themselves from the scandal ASAP

There is a huge amount of food safety legislation specifically designed to ensure that unidentified foodstuffs do not get into the food chain. That's there for a reason. Because this meat has not gone through the correct checks, the truth is that we do not know how dangerous it is. It's probably not very dangerous but you cannot allow supermarkets to stock food that 'probably isn't dangerous', there has to be certainty

Since the beginning of this I've been saying: Set up stalls in markets and sell the burgers marketed as being "scandal burgers" - me and the hipsters will eat them no problem!

Not unless you can guarantee that you know exactly what is in the food you're selling and its impact on humans. If you can't do that then you're in no position to be selling it. If you can then please go ahead, I actually quite like horse

My name is URL · 24-02-2013 01:34PM

VinLieger wrote: »

Ive been saying this since this whole debacle started, nobody wants to buy it so donate it to charities that feed the poor, several of them have actually requested it from the supermarket chains but have been refused

Isn't the biggest fear about what chemicals / medications might be contained within the meat though, rather than just the type of meat itself?

If retailers / producers don't know what species their product contains how can they know the chemical constitution and safety of it?! There's no way in hell they could donate the meat to charities.. if someone was to get ill because of it the shitstorm would be 1000 times worse than it already is.

ejmaztec · 24-02-2013 01:39PM

Antar Bolaeisk wrote: »

Have not you heard the latest scandal surrounding equine dna in broccoli?

So long as the food isn't harmful I don't see the problem with it coming back onto the market in one way or another. It would be terrible to just throw it all out with all the starving people in the world.

And don't forget the hiding in plain sight horseradish.:eek:

NIMAN · 24-02-2013 01:48PM

Maybe his comments were a little controversial, but his overall point of not wasting the food is not a bad one.

Should tens of thousands of tonnes of perfectly eatable meat just be dumped?

Fr_Dougal · 24-02-2013 01:52PM

true-or-false wrote: »

Surely you've heard what's in sausages? Gristle, cartilage, bits and bobs of a pig you wouldn't want to touch, let alone harvest. But when it comes in the packet you lose your sentimentality about these things and it's down to either "tastes good" or "tastes bad". I've had plenty of Tesco burgers and they always tasted good so it's no nevermind to me.

With the likes of sausages etc. you know what you're getting. With the likes of this horsemeat chances are you're getting half rotten horse corpses being processed by these shady processors that frankly could give two sweet fecks about what sort of maggot infested crap they put into the food chain. Lets not forget that this all started off as 'additives' containing horse DNA. Now they're taking about some meat products being 100% horse.

VinLieger · 24-02-2013 02:13PM

My name is URL wrote: »

Isn't the biggest fear about what chemicals / medications might be contained within the meat though, rather than just the type of meat itself?

If retailers / producers don't know what species their product contains how can they know the chemical constitution and safety of it?! There's no way in hell they could donate the meat to charities.. if someone was to get ill because of it the shitstorm would be 1000 times worse than it already is.

I dont think so yes there was the worry of bute being in them but that was an isolated case as far as i know.

Grayson · 24-02-2013 02:23PM

Reekwind wrote: »

If any politician stood up and suggested, as you not unreasonably do, that any horsemeat that was certified safe for human consumption be relabeled and put back on supermarket shelves then there would be uproar. The papers would go ballistic for a start. Yet apparently it's okay for this meat to be given, as charity, to the poor? That's not right and it real double-standard

I'm pretty certain that politicians would not get in trouble for saying horse can be sold if it's labeled horse, beef can be sold if it's labeled beef etc...

Reekwind · 24-02-2013 02:34PM

Grayson wrote: »

I'm pretty certain that politicians would not get in trouble for saying horse can be sold if it's labeled horse, beef can be sold if it's labeled beef etc...

Not any meat, this meat that has already been taken off the shelves. It would be a massive story if a politician seriously suggested that a packet of Iceland 'beefburgers' was returned to the shelves with a sticker on it saying 'Horsemeat, certified safe'. I strongly suspect that giving it to the poor is a lot less controversial

That's assuming of course that it is even possible to certify this meat so as to meet the relevant safety standards; probably an impossible task given the murkiness of the supply chain

Doobs · 24-02-2013 02:40PM

Given that thousands of people starve to death every day, i think the mere thought of simply destroying the horse meat should be punishable by death in all honesty :P

Evilsbane · 24-02-2013 03:04PM

Reekwind wrote: »

That's assuming of course that it even is possible to certify this meat so as it met the relevant safety standards, probably an impossible task given the murkiness of the supply chain

Agreed. In all likelihood the meat is OK to eat, but they can't skip the due diligence just because it's not being sold.

But the amount of food that gets thrown out by supermarkets and fast food restaurants every day is disgusting; I believe there is genuinely enough food in this world for everyone, if only the First World was better at sharing.

Rasheed · 24-02-2013 03:11PM

Reekwind wrote: »

Now imagine how disgusted you'd be when someone said that this meat wasn't safe enough for stocking in supermarkets but it was okay if someone like you ate it. Because, you know, the poor are different from you and me

It's safety standards for those who can afford them

We were assured there was no safety issue. The supermarkets got rid of them because they were wrongly labelled and to distance themselves from the controversy.

If I couldn't afford meat, and it's not a concept that's too alien to a lot of people, I wouldn't be too proud to not take/ buy cheaply, meat that wasn't labelled correctly. I think the politician was dead right to say it should have been donated to the poor.

If they wanted it, nobody's going force them.

johnr1 · 24-02-2013 03:18PM

Isn't this what tesco, birdseye, aldi, et all tried to do;)

(Thinly veiled "I shop in M&S cos I'm not poor" type wisecrack)

Reekwind · 24-02-2013 03:29PM

Rasheed wrote: »

We were assured there was no safety issue. The supermarkets got rid of them because they were wrongly labelled and to distance themselves from the controversy

No, the products were withdrawn because it is illegal to sell food whose ingredients are unknown and not displayed correctly. That this fiasco has not led to serious health issues is a matter of luck

There is a world of difference between assurances of a low probability of harmful effects from this meat and having a food properly certified as safe. The truth is that no one knows what went into these products; we don't know what was in the horses, how they were processed or by whom. You cannot say with certainty that this food is safe

And if that guarantee cannot be given then the food cannot be legally sold. If it's not good enough for sale then it's not good enough for charity. The last outcome we need from this is two-tier food safety standards; standards for the rich and standards for the poor

Chemical Burn · 24-02-2013 03:39PM

JupiterKid wrote: »

This statement reminds me of the infamous "let them eat cake" one attributed to the last French queen, Marie Antoinette.

If this man is so eager not to waste the dodgy horse meat then perhaps he can eat it.

Beggars can't be choosers.

darkhorse · 24-02-2013 03:53PM

Smidge wrote: »

Psstt.....

You do know she didn't say that? :-)

She did in the version of the film that I seen.

darkhorse · 24-02-2013 03:58PM

marcsignal wrote: »

looks like we've all been eating it for ages

Well, it would explain why I've been able to run faster as I got older.

darkhorse · 24-02-2013 04:31PM

stateofflux wrote: »

but i have never seen a 'starving' emaciated person in ireland ever or a poor person ever

where have ya looked?

Give horsemeat-tainted food to poor - German minister

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