Is your lasagna neighing?

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

German school students found horse meat in a great number of samples to be beef

In a DNA study conducted by students of a German high school most samples tested contained meat, and not just traces, other than beef and often – in a great percentage of them – the entire beef was not beef at all but horse.

And it may not just be your lasagne or your burger that may be neighing; nay – pardon the pun – even the piece of steak on your plate may, as it may be horse dressed up as beef.

According to some butchers it is difficult to nigh impossible even for them to determine as to whether it is beef or horse as they, no longer, at least not in Britain and other parts of the EU, slaughter and butcher the whole animal but receive the meat already cut up from the abattoir, the slaughterhouse. And thus many a horse dressed up as a bovine enters the food chain.

While there is nothing wrong, per se, with eating horse meat bar that the eating of horse to some people is a religious and cultural taboo, meat that comes from race horse is not fit for human consumption as it is full of drugs dangerous to humans. Furthermore is it serious fraud on the consumer to sell horse as beef, as kilo of horse meat is about 20 cents compared to whatever a kilo of beef is; in the UK it is the equivalent of 4 Euro or thereabouts. Those prices are wholesale from the abattoir to the neat retailer and not the price the consumer is being charges. For beef in Britain that is in the range of 10 Euro per kilo depending on type of beef.

Despite the fact that industry is supposed to be cleaning up its act it would appear little to nothing is being done. Governments tell us everything is hunky-dory and the problems are solved and that was before the tests conducted by those German high school students and – in the main – the media at home and abroad is keeping rather silent about the findings by those pupils. Obviously, government makes sure of that. Couldn't have the people know that despite all assurances the truth is a different one and it is not but traces of horse DNA but horse dressed up as beef all the way.

The findings by those German students make me glad that soon after the scandal broke in Eire and Britain I switched from a meat eater to a vegetarian as I do not wish to knowingly or unknowingly eat horse, the eating of which is taboo in the culture of my people.

© 2014