Another UK meat scandal

More than a fifth of meat sample tests in 2017 found DNA from animals not on the labelling. Out of 665 results from England, Wales and Northern Ireland collected by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), 145 were partly or wholly made up of unspecified meat. The FSA said the levels were consistent with "deliberate inclusion" - but added testing had targeted those businesses suspected of "compliance issues".

Source

This follows the 2013 horse meat scandal when processed beef products sold by a number of UK supermarket were found to contain significant amounts of horse DNA.

How are these companies continually getting away with this? The owners and any workers involved should still be in prison or banned following the horse scandal, yet they just seem to get a slap on the wrist and allowed to carry on.

DNA from other animals could have been present in some samples, but may not have been identified as testers were not looking for it.

So they could even have human DNA in the meat samples, but they wouldn't know because they didn't test for it. Even if they did, I don't think they would tell us because of the absolute outrage that would follow.

I'm going to buy locally sourced meat from the local butchers from now on.

Are there ANY industries/sectors out there that hasn't had any major scandals?
I honestly can't think of any...

a reply to: 83Liberty

It doesn’t surprise me really, certain meat processing companies will do nearly anything to increase profit margins. Most of the perfectly legitimate processed meat even is pumped so much with water it barely tastes like anything.

I'm going to buy locally sourced meat from the local butchers from now on.

Good, you and everyone else should do the same. It might seem to cost a little more, but you’ll actually be getting better value.

Generally human DNA is found in food due to processing/handling, it could be as little as a single cell, hence why it is not reported as 'human meat'. It's a good line for the papers to put out there to create a moral panic.

I agree that supermarket meat is terrible, supermarkets as a whole are a bit of a cancer.

Butcher's meat if sourced correctly is good and tastes better. That said, I am yet to find ANY source of good pork in the UK, that includes Lincolnshire outdoor bred, grass fed animals. It's just not a good meat, unless you're in Asia, for some reason.

As for horse, I'd just stick it on the label and keep selling it. No difference between eating horse, cow, dog, pig etc. Unless the animal is endangered of course.

A meat friend of mine tells me most meat scandals, including the old BSE problem, hail from Holland. I have no further details to share.

Holland (Rotterdam) is the major cargo container port for trading meat. There is supposed to be an audit trail, but on the far edges of Europe like Eastern Europe, it's easy enough to mix in slabs of horse meat with regular meat, and just fiddle the paperwork on a container.

Knew something funny was going on when my burgers would "glue" themselves onto the Aluminum foil. Couldn't peel them off.

originally posted by: and14263
Generally human DNA is found in food due to processing/handling, it could be as little as a single cell, hence why it is not reported as 'human meat'. It's a good line for the papers to put out there to create a moral panic.

I agree that supermarket meat is terrible, supermarkets as a whole are a bit of a cancer.

Butcher's meat if sourced correctly is good and tastes better. That said, I am yet to find ANY source of good pork in the UK, that includes Lincolnshire outdoor bred, grass fed animals. It's just not a good meat, unless you're in Asia, for some reason.

the difference with pork may not be the feed, but instead the fact that most pork in Asia is slaughtered and sold the same day. many times you buy it within hours of being killed. ironically the same reason beef is so bad, because it is not hung and aged. again typically being slaughtered and sold the same day. not to mention it has the habit of being the bull or cow that is too old to work the fields anymore.


with this inclusion of other meats. how can it even happen accidently? the processing plants i'm familiar with all handle 1 specific animal. in fact as a kid i lived in an area where they were located (and talk about stench). pigs, chickens, cows, horse, they all had their own completely separate processing facilities. so you really don't have the excuse that some pork was still in the equipment when they started to process beef.

The horse meat scandal, a time when horses said "they'll never Findus in here"

originally posted by: surfer_soul
a reply to: 83Liberty

It doesn’t surprise me really, certain meat processing companies will do nearly anything to increase profit margins. Most of the perfectly legitimate processed meat even is pumped so much with water it barely tastes like anything.

I'm going to buy locally sourced meat from the local butchers from now on.

Good, you and everyone else should do the same. It might seem to cost a little more, but you’ll actually be getting better value.

Yesterday I bought USA Grade AAA beef here in Japan, I couldn't chew it, I gave it to our pet dog. Not sure what happened to beef in America, but holly smokers, wow. It was horrible.

originally posted by: and14263
Butcher's meat if sourced correctly is good and tastes better. That said, I am yet to find ANY source of good pork in the UK, that includes Lincolnshire outdoor bred, grass fed animals. It's just not a good meat, unless you're in Asia, for some reason.

I recommend Gloucester Old Spot.
This is where I get my meat from rovesfarm.co.uk...
It is a farm where you can meet the animals, see them as piglets and they grow at a slower speed and are in a stress free environment.

originally posted by: surfer_soul
a reply to: 83Liberty

It doesn’t surprise me really, certain meat processing companies will do nearly anything to increase profit margins. Most of the perfectly legitimate processed meat even is pumped so much with water it barely tastes like anything.

Get that with chicken sometimes... just does quite taste like it used to taste. Sometimes rubbery..

pretty much any processed meat has the potential to be adulterated.

Solution? Buy your own beef and make your own steak pie. It's pretty easy after all.

a reply to: and14263


You can't find a nice bit of Pork in the UK? Come on down to Wiltshire, lots of tasty piggies here. Outdoor bred, too.

I do feel guilty about eating them though, cos they are very lovely and intelligent creatures but....bacon. Mmmmmmm.

a reply to: SprocketUK


Or get a cheap cut of beef like shin and invest in a slow cooker.

originally posted by: oldcarpy
a reply to: SprocketUK


Or get a cheap cut of beef like shin and invest in a slow cooker.

Shin is probably my favourite cut for stews etc. I make a mean beef phall with a nice lump of Hereford shin

a reply to: SprocketUK


When I first tried mates Phall (he asked the waiter to make it really hot - idiot) I tried a bit and could not speak for half an hour.

I now quite like a Phall but some are hotter than others.

Sounds lovely, your curry.

a reply to: oldcarpy

Thanks .Yeah, you gotta build up to it.
Have a Google for Satan's ashes. Best curry mix ever. My Mrs gets me one from Harvey nicks now and then. Utterly gorgeous and the hottest curry I've eaten.

a reply to: SprocketUK


I googled and found things like "The day my arse died" so, not any time soon for me!

a reply to: stormcell

Did u say glue?

Get a few slabs of any cut, add meat glue, sell as expensive cut

Transglutaminase

a reply to: oldcarpy



Haha. Dunno what they did but I've never had those problems from home made curry.

a reply to: SprocketUK


I have. Talk about "Ring of Fire"!

Can recommend Naga sauce. Not mentally hot, but fairly hot and v fruity.

a reply to: oldcarpy

Lol.
I do like the taste of nagas. If you can find it, try insanity sauce. So hot you can weld with it.