Tesco beef burgers are 29% horse meat

[JoanByers]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2262961/Beef-burgers-contaminated-HORSE-MEAT-sale-UK-Ireland-supermarkets-including-Tesco.html

It's hardly a surprise now is it. If you are going to eat beef burgers costing £2.52/kg, they clearly can't be made of beef - beef costs more than double that price.

www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=264291549

Cheap processed meat is just disgusting. Ham made from meat slurry (most ham on sale in this country), reconstituted chicken from Thailand (I found this in a sandwich on sale in the Co-Op).

[squeakytoy]

The issue is not so much the animal, but HOW it got into the food chain. There are such strict regulations (or supposed to be) in place to avoid cross contamination, and this is a massive slip up. It could also have huge economic repercussions with regards to the export of meat from the UK, which will severely affect the farming communities.

[PurpleStorm]

Seriously?

That's disturbing. I've got no objection to eating horse meat although I might have to avoid telling my horse loving friend about it if I did eat it , but I feel very strongly that the ingredients list on food packets should be accurate.

They're claiming that the only animal in the beef burgers is cows on the packet. If they want to put random animals in there, they should either say which other animals, or say meat from unspecified animals.

Raises questions about what else might be in Tesco's food (including veggie food) that they're not telling the consumer about.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

I see horses as being in the same category as dogs and cats. They are pets.

I'd eat all of them if I had to though.

I would annoyed that the packaging had been misleading though. Just because I like my food packaging to be honest.

[LRDtheFeministDragon]

val - it was very tender, but more watery and pink. I suspect it was just bad beef. But thank you!

[JoanByers]

Looking at this:

www.boucherie.info/index.php?a=produits-tarifs

horse meat does seem cheaper than beef.

I wouldn't mind some saucisson sec de cheval actually.

I don't particularly object to horse, it's just the manufacturing process whereby all this dogfood, essentially, gets shipped around the world, and random bits of this and parts of that end up in your burger. It's emblematic of the process.

[piprabbit]

I'd rather not eat a meat product at all, than eat one that is 'formed' from something.

[ICBINEG]

I am pretty shocked actually! Not that horse meat is bad, but actually no having the first idea wft is in the food you are selling is pretty unforgivable.

It's the same with childrens toys....you would think if you by toys from a European manufacturer you would avoid lead paint etc. but if the toy contains parts made in china you can forget it for the same reasons this has happened. The supply chain gets so long and changes so frequently the company who's name is on the box has got sod all idea what is in it any more.

[ExitPursuedByABear]

As a horse owner and none meat eater, I find this quite horrifying.

But purely from the point of view of no one knowing what goes into what is eaten. How it was treated, how it was produced. There could be anything in there.

Thank goodness for vegetables.

[DeepRedBetty]

I wouldn't have an issue with eating a piece of horse if I knew in advance that's what it was. I'd find it slightly weird, due to being English, and would probably choose something else off the menu, but mostly meh.

I do have an issue with an object labelled as a beef-burger turning out that its meat content is nearly 3/10 a completely different animal to a cow. Horses are frequently treated with Bute, which remains in the animal's muscle tissue (i.e. meat), and bute is not a safe chemical for human consumption. If the labelling regime is managing to avoid even mentioning what species is involved then the chances of traceability for individual carcasses must be zero.

[ArbitraryUsername]

To be honest, I always assume there's something amiss with very cheap meat. (And so I buy more expensive meat).

I agree Tesco should know what's in their burgers and it should be clear labelled, though.

[DizzyZebra]

I don't see why this is a big deal. Just because some of us eat cheap meat doesn't mean we are thick enough to believe it's 100% as advertised... I love horses.. But we are top of the food chain, So we can eat what we like, The idea of eating horse does not offend me.

[Remotecontrolduck]

It's not so much the issue of having horse in burgers, it's the fact they did not label it. It was a 'Beef' burger, no mention of 29%!!!! Horse meat!!

I try to make sure all my meat has been reared and slaughtered humanely, so wouldn't have found myself buying these products, but no company should be allowed not to label something which makes up 29% of something, no matter how cheap.

I'm not buying the idea that people who eat meat should be prepared to eat any meat. People have their own limits, and should be informed accurately of what they're eating.

[FogClearing]

I have no issue with a random meat burger as long as the source is tracable and labeled for sale correctly.

[mam29]

I always try and buy the fresh chilled burgers are they affected too or is it just frozen?

Quite like the fresh vennision burgers in co-op.

I think going to have chat with butcher on weekend.

also discuss with husband if we can eat more veg and go farmshop more.

With 3young children I like to know what im feeding them.

Guess huge grey area for everyone is eating out/takeways.
ready meals-where does meat come from then?

[TinyDancingHoofer]

I have horses, i would eat horse but i would want to know it was free range or organic, nicely raised. But would also have massive issue eating something that came from somewhere that so badly mixes up its ingredients. Horse meat is generally more expensive than beef i thought? So that's weird for them to put a better ingredient in.

If people can't trust tesco for what meat they are eating, how can allergy sufferers trust them? Correct labelling in food is a serious health issue.

[Naoko]

I have eaten horse (knowingly), I don't have a problem with eating horse, but if I buy a beef burger I expect it to be made with beef. Not horse. There's a clear food safety problem here if there are things in the supply chain that shouldn't be there, and that's why this is appalling.

[ripsishere]

IMO, horse is the same as cow, pig and sheep and chicken. I don't eat much meat and certainly avoid processed stuff.
I have knowingly eaten horse. It is much more iron-y as someone else said upthread.
I've also eaten dog. Not knowingly.

[theplodder]

kangaroo is revolting and whilst a lean meat very unhygenically produced. there are serious welfare and hygene issues , the trade should be banned. indeed imports are banned in many countries . avoid.

[feministefatale]

Doesn't really matter if you would happily eat other meats, if something says "beef" on the packaging... it should contain beef.

[MrsMushroom]

why would ANYONE buy those when you can get a packet of mince for a couple of quid and make your own?

V disturbed by the term "meat slurry" Joan

[Ericaequites]

Read Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. It's free on Project Gutenberg. The novel describes abuses in the slaughterhouse industry a century ago. The pink slime slurry in the US and this Tesco report show things have not improved as much as they should have. The book is a great argument for becoming a vegetarian.
I would not eat horsemeat, but it is not generally obtainable here.

[minibmw2010]

They've removed them off the shelves now claiming they didn't know.

[Wheresmycaffeinedrip]

If its in the burger ur should be listed. Simple! People can eat all they want once they have enough info to Make their decision. What about people of different religions who aren't supposed to eat certain foods. Some of us could shrug it off but for some it could he a major ethical dilemma. Plus where did the horse come from. We don't eat horse routinely in this country?

[ebersneezer]

I have no problems with horse being eaten but the issue is not with that, the media is focussing on the norse but they also found pork. It's about processes in the manufacturing process and labelling.