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Subscribe to RSSSix horses slaughtered in the U.K. that tested positive for a potentially harmful drug were exported to France and may have entered the human food chain, Britain's Food Standards Agency said Thursday.
Phenylbutazone, commonly known as bute, is an anti-inflammatory painkiller for sporting horses but is banned for animals intended for human consumption.
Britain's food regulator said it was gathering information on the six carcasses sent to France and will work with the French authorities to trace them.
The FSA said it checked 206 horse carcasses between Jan. 30 and Feb. 7. Of these, eight tested positive for the drug.
It said the six sent to France were slaughtered by a firm in Taunton, western England. The remaining two did not leave the slaughterhouse in Nantwich, north west England, and have now been disposed of.
The FSA introduced 100 percent testing of horse carcasses on Jan. 30 in response to the growing horse scandal.
Growing concern
The issue first came to light on Jan. 15 when routine tests by Irish authorities discovered horsemeat in beef burgers made by firms in Ireland and Britain and sold in supermarket chains including Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer.
Concern grew last week when the British unit of frozen foods group Findus began recalling its beef lasagne on advice from its French supplier, Comigel, after tests showed concentrations of horsemeat ranging from 60 to 100 percent.
Meanwhile in France, an investigation into how horsemeat found its way into prepared meals in Europe discovered that a French processing company called Spanghero sold what could have been horsemeat as beef, officials said Thursday.
"It would seem that the first agent in this chain to label the meat 'beef' was indeed Spanghero," Consumer Affairs Minister Benoit Hamon told a news conference of the company based in the southwestern town of Castelnaudry.
"The investigation shows Spanghero knew the meat labeled as beef could be horse. There was a strong suspicion," he said, arguing that Spanghero could also not have failed to notice that the meat in question was much cheaper than beef.
In an emailed statement, Spanghero denied the accusations and said it firmly believed that what it was selling was beef.
Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll said the government was considering withdrawing Spanghero's operating license.
The investigation found the company had generated a profit of 550,000 euros ($733,800) over six months by selling cheap horsemeat as beef, Hamon said.
Related:
Horsemeat scandal spurs tougher food tests in Europe
'Criminal conspiracy' blamed for European horse-in-burger scandal
Hamburgers pulled from UK supermarket shelves after tests reveal horse meat
Leave a Comment:
What are these idiots eating horsemeat for anyways? How disgusting.
"Slaughter opponents pushed a measure cutting off funding for horse meat inspections through Congress in 2006 after other efforts to pass outright bans on horse slaughter failed in previous years."
"It did not, however, allocate any new money to pay for horse meat inspections,"
What was that argument a year ago about labeling meat? We don't need no stinking labels or inspections.
The reality is that, regardless of labeling, Americans also currently have no idea what they are buying and eating, be it animal or vegetable - and haven't for more than 30 years. With 7 billion humans on the planet, a number that will reset to 9 billion within another 2 decades, both "tasty" and "safe" are going to take on even more new meanings.
Yuck! I wonder how many of us in America have been duped the same way. Wouldn't surprise me at all if horsemeat was found in our "beef".
What's the big deal, horses are just cows that run faster.
When I was a kid, frozen horsemeat was available as dog food. My father's pointer never had it so good. Ironically, my dad was an expert horseman, and had been in the U.S. Cavalry and a cowboy.
Commercially slaughtered horse meat causes Cancer and is why it was removed from the pet food market in the 1970's. Nothing has changed. Commercially slaughtered horse meat will always contain levels of adrenaline and cortisol that make it the most carcinogenic meat available. The levels are so high, this "product" should actually be restricted because it does not meet legal standards. Too bad they don't regulate horse meat...
Many cultures eat horse meat. I think the issue here is UNinpected meat and meat that has been contaminated with drugs not allowed for human consumption. If our culture recognized it, if it was labeled and inspected then I don't see a problem. Selling it with a 'beef' label and using unsafe meat is something altogether different.
Not cool
Gee I thought this kind of thing only happened in the US. Oh my !
During Obama’s free trade address, he talked broadly of a free trade deal with Europe. Both countries, besides Germany, don’t really make anything anymore, so I don’t understand what that will accomplish. But, I do pray that such a deal happens. We in Europe are under a blanket of fear. Somebody killed and ground up Mr. Ed. The horse meat scandal is reaching a fevered pitch here. One food company, Findus, (ha. Find-Us. ) found that 100% of there all beef lasagna’s was more like 20% beef, 80% horsemeat. Whoops. Somebody has to repeat Kindergarden. In fact, it’s the Romanian Barber of Fleet Street. Findus was buying there product from a French company called Cormel, who in turn was buying it from a Romanian butchery. The meat game of musical chairs has left those fortunate few with the taste of horse in their mouths. Honestly, in most parts of Europe they don’t mind a bit of Philly. But in the UK, where they have used horses to kill Foxes and other animals for hundreds of years, it’s the worst thing since the Beatles broke up. Now the British Parliament is screaming for investigations. Lynchings may be brought back. A reinstatement of the rack as corporal punishment is possible. The Tower may be closed as a museum and re-opened for its “true” purpose. These ideas are being met in the House of Lords with hearty cheers and golf claps. Pretty soon the BBC will somehow be blamed for everything. Meetings about possible investigations will air live on BBC 1,2,3,4,5, with consequent replays every hour, and live updates every 20 minutes, followed by the weather in Mongolia. There, the horse tribes of Gengas Khan still run around shooting arrows at each other, which is OK because they love horses.
High off the fumes of the Olympic flame and the old bags Birthday, the little island that used to be are ready to rebuild the empire. An invasion of Romania is completely possible. After hundreds of more meetings, and thousands of hours of public tribunals with B-List celebrities like David Beckham, Elton John will be nationalized and forced to sing “A Candle in the Wind” forever. The war drums will again resonate from Whitehall to the Isle of White. The Generals, who forgot why they actually wore a uniform, will methodically assemble in top secret locations to prepare the invasion plan. These top secret meetings over division placement and pincer movement will of course all be available online within minutes. No need for phone hacking here.
After days of cucumber sandwiches and tea with milk, David Cameron will call President Obama to ask if it is “OK” to invade Romania. Of course he will say no, and after some pouting, Cameron will go live on BBC 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. He will proclaim to the British people that “NATO” and the world need to bring an end to the tyranny of Romanian horsemeat. That this Libyan like crisis needs to be met with the shield and sword of world opinion. That Rolls Royce engines are being used in most of the fighter aircraft ready to bomb Romania, and that everyone should stay tuned for a special Horse Meat concert performed by Robbie Williams. The Queen will take to her royal barge and float down the Thames to the English Channel. Prince Phillip will simultaneously ride out naked from Buckingham Palace, galloping along the banks of the Thames in some sick show of solidarity. The British people will all get completely drunk and wave there flags proudly as Phillips raisin like skin flashes before there moist eyes.
When all is said and done, after 100 days of fireworks, and a few more barge trips by the Queen, the Horse Meat War that wasn’t will culminate with a live broadcast of the Elton John’s funeral. Worked to death after nationalization, the public will cry out for justice. Meetings will begin in earnest. Parliament will hold special meetings about who should be involved in those meetings. Subsequent meetings will be held about when those meetings should take place. All of the meetings will be broadcast online and live via the BBC. Elton’s funeral broadcast will be a hot topic of debate. Rupert Murdoch will swoop in to buy the exclusive airing rights for 2 billion pounds. More meetings will be held. A trial will be held live in Trafalgar Square, by 14 wigged judges. Led by Simon Cowell, they will find the BBC guilty of 37 different charges. A hologram of Elton will be constructed by the same people who brought Tupac back to life at Coachella. And as the last note of Rocket Man airs out over London, Elton’s hologram will be seen by the masses of punters riding on a beautiful black thoroughbred. Monty Python will then air for 100 straight days on BBC 4, 5 and 6 and Romania will be safe to carve up horses again. The future has never looked so bright.
The outrage is not just because they love horses in Britain. It's for several reasons. First, this level of fraud is highly criminal. Second, they claim to have strict standards and maintain such high quality in the EU that the implications of this could undermine the whole EU meat standards testing process. Third, medications and substances given horses are poisonous to humans and were found to be present in the meat.
On top of all this: commercially slaughtered horse meat contains Cancer causing adrenaline and cortisol in levels much, much higher than any other meat. It's just real bad all the way around...
During Obama’s free trade address, he talked broadly of a free trade deal with Europe. Both countries, besides Germany, don’t really make anything anymore, so I don’t understand what that will accomplish. But, I do pray that such a deal happens. We in Europe are under a blanket of fear. Somebody killed and ground up Mr. Ed. The horse meat scandal is reaching a fevered pitch here. One food company, Findus, (ha. Find-Us. ) found that 100% of there all beef lasagna’s was more like 20% beef, 80% horsemeat. Whoops. Somebody has to repeat Kindergarden. In fact, it’s the Romanian Barber of Fleet Street. Findus was buying there product from a French company called Cormel, who in turn was buying it from a Romanian butchery. The meat game of musical chairs has left those fortunate few with the taste of horse in their mouths. Honestly, in most parts of Europe they don’t mind a bit of Philly. But in the UK, where they have used horses to kill Foxes and other animals for hundreds of years, it’s the worst thing since the Beatles broke up. Now the British Parliament is screaming for investigations. Lynchings may be brought back. A reinstatement of the rack as corporal punishment is possible. The Tower may be closed as a museum and re-opened for its “true” purpose. These ideas are being met in the House of Lords with hearty cheers and golf claps. Pretty soon the BBC will somehow be blamed for everything. Meetings about possible investigations will air live on BBC 1,2,3,4,5, with consequent replays every hour, and live updates every 20 minutes, followed by the weather in Mongolia. There, the horse tribes of Gengas Khan still run around shooting arrows at each other, which is OK because they love horses.
High off the fumes of the Olympic flame and the old bags Birthday, the little island that used to be are ready to rebuild the empire. An invasion of Romania is completely possible. After hundreds of more meetings, and thousands of hours of public tribunals with B-List celebrities like David Beckham, Elton John will be nationalized and forced to sing “A Candle in the Wind” forever. The war drums will again resonate from Whitehall to the Isle of White. The Generals, who forgot why they actually wore a uniform, will methodically assemble in top secret locations to prepare the invasion plan. These top secret meetings over division placement and pincer movement will of course all be available online within minutes. No need for phone hacking here.
After days of cucumber sandwiches and tea with milk, David Cameron will call President Obama to ask if it is “OK” to invade Romania. Of course he will say no, and after some pouting, Cameron will go live on BBC 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. He will proclaim to the British people that “NATO” and the world need to bring an end to the tyranny of Romanian horsemeat. That this Libyan like crisis needs to be met with the shield and sword of world opinion. That Rolls Royce engines are being used in most of the fighter aircraft ready to bomb Romania, and that everyone should stay tuned for a special Horse Meat concert performed by Robbie Williams. The Queen will take to her royal barge and float down the Thames to the English Channel. Prince Phillip will simultaneously ride out naked from Buckingham Palace, galloping along the banks of the Thames in some sick show of solidarity. The British people will all get completely drunk and wave there flags proudly as Phillips raisin like skin flashes before there moist eyes.
When all is said and done, after 100 days of fireworks, and a few more barge trips by the Queen, the Horse Meat War that wasn’t will culminate with a live broadcast of the Elton John’s funeral. Worked to death after nationalization, the public will cry out for justice. Meetings will begin in earnest. Parliament will hold special meetings about who should be involved in those meetings. Subsequent meetings will be held about when those meetings should take place. All of the meetings will be broadcast online and live via the BBC. Elton’s funeral broadcast will be a hot topic of debate. Rupert Murdoch will swoop in to buy the exclusive airing rights for 2 billion pounds. More meetings will be held. A trial will be held live in Trafalgar Square, by 14 wigged judges. Led by Simon Cowell, they will find the BBC guilty of 37 different charges. A hologram of Elton will be constructed by the same people who brought Tupac back to life at Coachella. And as the last note of Rocket Man airs out over London, Elton’s hologram will be seen by the masses of punters riding on a beautiful black thoroughbred. Monty Python will then air for 100 straight days on BBC 4, 5 and 6 and Romania will be safe to carve up horses again. The future has never looked so bright.
What really needs to be considered in this issue is the serious risk to human health that is contained in commercially slaughtered horse meat. The levels of adrenaline and cortisol produced by equines are far, far greater than any legal levels found in any other meat harvested for human consumption. Horses are specifically bred for adrenaline production, not for human consumption.
The fatally flawed head-shot kill method (severe head trauma) used in all commercial horse slaughter ensures that all of the adrenaline and cortisol that can possibly be produced by the animal is delivered throughout the flesh post shot. This is evidenced to any layman by the pulsing of the animal. In commercial beef production they call this “dark cutting” and the meat is not (supposed to be) legally approved for human consumption. Adrenaline and cortisol consumption by humans causes Colorectal and other forms of cancer.
It is not just the existence of prohibited medications and other man-made substances in the meat that is illegal---it is the abundance of naturally occurring hormones and steroids that make horse meat more carcinogenic than any other commercially slaughtered meat.
Our whole world is, now, a toxic porridge, only, sometimes too hot! Sometimes too cold!
And, we are the poor, baby bears!
"Roids" "bute"?? Maybe, I can win a bicycle race, and have a "horse laugh", all the way to the bank!!!
And,-- get .05%, from the nice, big nosed, banker!