Why so paranoid over horsemeat?

10:56am Wednesday 20th February 2013 in Letters By Readers' letters

WHAT a wonderful breath of fresh air the boss man of Iceland is. I listened to Malcolm Walker on the telly and he is the only person who says it like it is. I have very seldom shopped at Iceland, but his candour, humour and down-to-earth honesty has converted me to his cause. I will pop into the local branch tomorrow.

We go into a total fit of paranoia about horsemeat in our beef burgers – wrong on all counts when they are labelled as “100 per cent beef” but nothing wrong if we only know what we are getting. Horse, as I understand it, is a tasty, cheap and healthy substitute for beef. Why don’t we get a large dose of realism, accept that horse is the future, and accept it as a valuable addition to our diet?

The crooks who sold it to us as beef must be pursued and punished for fraud, but let the rest of us follow the lead of that wonderful chap in charge of Iceland, and stop pontificating about health risks, and all the other nonsense sprouted about horse. Let us welcome an addition to our food choice – one which the rest of Europe has been enjoying for years.

Gideon Visser, Stonegrave, York.

 

•THE woes of the western world can be resolved.

The key: Boris Johnson. Mayor of London, born in New York, wins the American presidency in 2016. In his White House leisure time he then sorts out the UK – to wit, the horsemeat and King Richard III issues – Europe and the rest of us.

Our woes become history.

Best regards; and thanks for recent indulgence.

Ron Willis, Mount Lawley, Perth, Western Australia.

Comments(7)

keepitshut says...
12:33pm Wed 20 Feb 13

Gideon.....i fully agree.
How many of us have said .....im so hungry i could eat a horse?
Well now we are and people still moan!
Hypocrites!

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Buzz Light-year says...
1:08pm Wed 20 Feb 13

As long as the horsemeat is bred and reared for human consumption and not given dangerous supplements then the first letter has a point.

As for the second letter... Whaaaaaa??

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Yorkborneinbse says...
5:24pm Wed 20 Feb 13

Gideon, I also agree with a however.

Just as long as we are told, upfront, what is in the burgers, or other products. Then, we truly have the 'Choice' that's all.

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Viper_7 says...
5:44pm Wed 20 Feb 13

Totally missing the point as many people have. It's not that it is horse meat, it's that the product's recipe contains foreign ingredients that were not listed and were not traced.

What else could be in the humble burger, horse has been found; what next dog,cat,rat? That's the meat part, what other chemicals could be present?

The message has been changing all along, first "No health risk"
Followed by "low health risk" when horse drugs were found.
There was "only processed foods"
followed by "now fresh products contaminated"

They really don't know! which shows they have very poor auditing and controls.

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CynicaloldGit says...
7:24pm Wed 20 Feb 13

I hate ignorance, but accept that people often speak, or opine from ignorance, but it is always best to make sure of facts before one comments as the tilte of the letter gives.

It is not a matter of whether horse meat is bad for anyone, horse meat is actually very nice, less fat, therefore healthier and has a wonderful taste, I know, i have eaten it and cooked with it many times.
The first issue is that it is many times cheaper than beef therefore the public are being ripped off.

The second point is this...beef, sheep and pigs, raised in this country for human consumption, are monitored as to which drugs may have been given them prior to slaughter, and any drugs that may have an adverse efect on humans, then the animal cannot be fed into the food chain.

So any horse going into the food chain, must also have the necessary documentation too, but these that have found their way into the food chain from slaughter houses in eastern Europe as it seems may not have this scrutiny and humans may be affected by drugs not acceptable for humans.
A cousin of mine ran a chicken farm for a well known company, and 30 years ago, he told me he didn't eat chicken because of the antibiotics he had to feed them.........it's not just misuse of antibiotics from doctors we need to worry about, it's those fed to our food supply.

Please try and study the facts before you state.............Wh
y so paranoid over horsemeat

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DYLANESQ says...
4:03am Thu 21 Feb 13

The main reason people don't want to eat horse flesh is that it is not traditionally eaten in the UK. Also, to a Brit,a horse is like a pet. Rast pooch on the table ? Yukko !! But in the asian countries, especially China, it is common ? Some native tribes love to eat fat, squirming grubs alive.
A 'prairie oyster' ma'am ? No thanks..don't eat bulls balls. Need I go on ? Just give us what it says on the package..we'll let you know if we want to expand our diets .

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NoMorePlease says...
10:12pm Thu 21 Feb 13

Gideon Visser, you did not listen to the guy did you? He said the fault was with local authorities sourcing the cheapest meat.
The point is that you expect to get what you pay for not be decieved. So the Iceland guy is an idiot and you can follow him

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