to find myself shouting IT'S NOT ABOUT THE HORSE MEAT

[ICBINEG]

It's about companies not having the faintest idea what is in the food they sell!

Drugs, contaminants, carcinogens, allergens etc.

If you don't even know it is horse not beef then how can I trust it doesn't contain milk and hence will not kill my DNephew if I happen to feed it to him?

The same goes for toys. If you don't know who actually made the parts and from what then how do you know it isn't smothered in lead/anything else that is extremely harmful to children?

I predict a future filled with product and toy recalls followed by lawsuits until retailers wake up to the fact that we WILL blame them when a burger/toy they sold us harms the health of our children.

[TheMightyLois]

THANK YOU!!!

[uberalice]

Agree!

[magimedi]

YES!

[DameMargotFountain]

absolutely, but as a sanctimonious veggie, i do like to stir it up a bit

[Newyearoldmum]

Totally agree

[craftynclothy]

YANBU.

I couldn't care less what 'meat' it is, it's the fact they didn't know

[ICBINEG]

[sasamaxx]

yes totally agree
and ppl keep saying things like 'horsemeat is pretty good meat actually'

[FlouncingMintyy]

Yes, that's the real story. I honestly thought we had high food standards in this country.

[splashymcsplash]

I disagree because I think the presence of horse meat in cheap meat products means that people need to seriously think about the ethics of cheap meat.

[Chopstheduck]

I agree entirely with what you are saying, but there are still a lot of people getting hung up over the fact that it is horse rather than the real issues that you raise.

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

Exactly.

The lack of traceability is a major factor for me!

[PetiteRaleuse]

YANBU and I think this is very much the thin (and safest and least shocking) end of the wedge.

[WowOoo]

Yes.
I wish I was a veggie at times like these.
At least you can wash any nasties off veg.

It's a shocking state of affairs, isn't it?
But, there are people on our side such as the people who found out about horsemeat.

[aimum]

I agree. I can't believe people are worried about the fact its horse meat as though the fact its a horse is likely to kill you. Hopefully this will make manufacturers increase their standards.

[MisForMumNotMaid]

DameMargot didn't it turn out in a previous food scandal that we had legislated that various animal parts weren't meat and were therefore used in products that could declare 'contains no meat'?

[ivykaty44]

YABU

It is about the consumer wanting cheap food and the supermarkets putting pressure on the companies to get cheaper and cheaper prices.

if you want to know what food you are eating then buy whole food products and pay a fair price for them.

[princesschick]

YADNBU - I totally agree with you. We desperately try not to eat processed food at home and try to only eat organic meat, but I bet we've eaten something contaminated along the way over the years / in a restaurant / at friends / on a lazy day. Hormones, drugs, other chemicals massively bother me for all-sorts of personal health reasons. As a meat eater, this DEFINITELY not about being the wrong kind of animal (although can understand why people would be v.v.v. upset if they are particularly fond of horses).

With you all the way on this one OP! And makes me want to be even more vigilant about what we eat / where we eat out.

[ICBINEG]

ivy so it is unreasonable to think it isn't about the horse meat then?

I want to be clear about this because I was on 100% NU until you turned up...

[ICBINEG]

ivy Also I don't really agree with your point. Supermarkets will drive for the cheapest supply now matter what mark up we are prepared to pay.

[CloudsAndTrees]

Yanbu.

I agree that it isn't about horsemeat, and I agree that we should be able to trust companies over what they put in food.

But, surely anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that anything that comes out of a frozen Findus box is likely to be full of stuff they'd would rather not eat. It's cheap for a reason.

[ivykaty44]

no it is about people wanting to turn a blind eye to what supermarkets practice in business, they don't want to admit they are shopping in a place that may have less than savioury practices and now they show shock and horror at one of the unsavioury practices to get them cheap food.

They are not concerned when it is farmers in countries around the world going out of businesss - as then they think it doesn't effect them.

it hasn't got any thing to do with horse meat it is to do with the fact that it may mean prices go up - and a lot higher prices for meat will come into force

[chihiro]

YANBU food labelling has supposed to have come a long way - telling us calories, health and allergy information, etc. And now we find that the list of ingredients bit has just been made up.

How are we supposed to trust anything written on our food?

[Trills]

I disagree CloudsandTrees

Anything that comes out of a frozen Findus box should have in it only what is listed on the box.

It may be written in slightly misleading language, but it should be listed.

[socharlottet]

Have you ever worked in the food industry? Of course Findus knew!