writergirlWhat a wonderful start to 2013. After all the mince pies have been consumed, and there’s no sign that the Christmas alcohol stash even existed, today marks the end of an incredibly fast paced, and swift moving month.
While the hot topic of returning to jobs, school and University is bang on trend, there’s another beefy topic (or not so beefy in hindsight) that the British and Irish public have been getting their teeth stuck in to.
Following an investigation that led to horse DNA being found in beef burgers, the result is four superpower supermarket chains dropping a number of beef products previously being sold in Aldi, Iceland, Lidl and Tesco across the UK and Ireland.
The discovery came from The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) where the burgers were noted to be produced and manufactured by two processing plants in Ireland, Liffey Meats and Silvercrest Foods, and Dalepak Hambleton in the UK. Is this just horseplay?
However, this has left a very sour, and unsatisfied taste in the mouths of the Irish and British public. With debates a rife regarding the ethics of consuming horsemeat, and the upset at being misled into buying the beef foods, I can’t help but feel the issue of pig DNA being discovered in the product as being overlooked and forgotten about.
While in one sample, from Tesco, the level of positive DNA indicated horsemeat accounted for 29% relative to the beef content, what is being ignored, or outweighed by the horse concern, is that the pig content is not totally unethical, but infringing many religious beliefs. Is it really that important to focus on consuming horsemeat and forget about the consequence it has on the unsuspecting consumers who are disallowed from eating pig meat.
Granted, I will not opt for horse if served on a menu, and obviously from the reaction I am not alone in that, however surely this has become a question of false advertising and being misled, something that certainly the supermarkets are emphasizing they experienced too.
So, what do you think? Were you shocked and horrified by the horsemeat scandal? Do you think more coverage should be focused on the pig meat content? Or do you feel that meat is meat, regardless of what animal it comes from, and that we should start eating horse like the French do, or even guinea pig like in Peru? If you have anything to say, feel free to post below.