FSA finds horsemeat in Northern Irish food company 80% horsemeat

Hi all

OH no another horsemeat scandel. This time its 80% horsemeat, 80% thats not trace amounts..

www.itv.com...

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said a quantity of frozen meat being stored in Northern Ireland had been found to contain 80% horsemeat.

The FSA said the meat tested at Freeza Meats, in Newry, on the border with the Republic, was potentially linked to the Silvercrest factory, the site where the original contamination was discovered

Im not sure who they sold their horsemeat to,but I wonder if we are gonna find out Burger King had alot more then trace amounts . It does say its possibly linked to the other factory..




found a better link
www.bbc.co.uk...

The Food Standards Agency is investigating how horsemeat ended up in beef at a cold store in Newry, County Down.

It was among a consignment at Freeza Meats, which may be linked to Silvercrest's Irish Republic plant.

The FSA said that 12 samples had been tested and two came back positive for horse meat, at about 80%.

Gerry McCurdy of the FSA said there was "definitely now the potential" of fraudulent activity.

Meanwhile, police in the Irish Republic have been asked to investigate after horsemeat was found in beef products at a third factory.

Ministers requested police assistance after equine DNA was found at Rangeland Foods, in County Monaghan.

The firm stopped production after tests found 75% horse DNA in an ingredient imported from Poland.

The company said the consignment had not gone into production.

Mr McCurdy, of the FSA in Northern Ireland, said the possibility of fraud needed to be investigated.

"That is why the Republic of Ireland, the Department of Agriculture, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, the minister, the Garda are involved," he said

Not suprised at all, I would love to know how long people have unknowingly been fed horsemeat instead of beef.

Just makes you wonder what else you may have eaten under false pretences. No wonder we end up with diseases like CJD. Also , where are they getting all these horses from?

I always thought horse meat was more expensive the beef... So what is wrong with those horses?

Originally posted by woodwardjnr
Just makes you wonder what else you may have eaten under false pretences. No wonder we end up with diseases like CJD. Also , where are they getting all these horses from?

A lot of people in Ireland bought horses when money was flowing. Crash happended. People couldn't afford to look after them,

Ulster society of prevention of cruelty to animals have been monitoring situation and estimate that 70,000 horses have vanished from Ireland over last couple of years. They believe it has now entered the food chain ileagally in europe. Its kinda ironic this has possibly now reappeared in Irish food chain.

I want a big fat horse meat juicy steak. Just don't call it a beef burger, I will still buy it.

Horse meat is delicious. Dont know why Uk law would still prohibit it. Makes no sense.

reply to post by PsykoOps


It is not prohibited, there is just no market for it.

I read comments on the "other UK horsemeat scandal" that it is forbidden in UK. Now I checked and doesn't seem like it was true. Shouldn't believe everything on the web.

reply to post by PsykoOps


It is obviously prohibited to put it in processed foods without it being on the ingredients list though. Maybe thats what they meant?

The understanding I got is that it was some medieval law still in place. Never checked if it was true or not. Wiki says not.

Originally posted by IgnorantSquare
I always thought horse meat was more expensive the beef... So what is wrong with those horses?

Now that is a good question. Although there does seem to be a question mark of thousands of horse disappearances in Ireland due to the financial crash.

One does wonder what else is being put in the mix of processed foods.
Best to just buy a mincer and do your own mincing and cutting up into chunks etc from a large cut of the meat you like. Less chance of it being something other than that stated on the packaging.

On the bright side, at least they have not found human dna (well at least not that they are telling anyway) - Soylent Green anyone?

Originally posted by michael1983l
I want a big fat horse meat juicy steak. Just don't call it a beef burger, I will still buy it.

Would you eat a dog if it tasted good? Don't you think man has a certain relationship with some animals. A certain kinship.

Originally posted by woodwardjnr

Originally posted by michael1983l
I want a big fat horse meat juicy steak. Just don't call it a beef burger, I will still buy it.

Would you eat a dog if it tasted good? Don't you think man has a certain relationship with some animals. A certain kinship.

Come on now, no need to start down that path.

I ride horses, I love horses. My daughter has been riding them for years. There are many things around the world that I would rather cuddle than chew.

I didn't know horsemeat is legal here, i never cared for it, asked for it, or looked for it. As another poster said, there's just no market for it here.

The relevancy of this topic is how it got there, and what it's gotten into.
And not the 'you wouldn't eat blah blah.'

Its not a "conspiracy", its a mistake. Horsemeat is, at least, in the UK and ireland, 3x more expensive than beef because theres such a small market for it. They aren't going to put horsemeat in burgers, brand it as beef, just to "get one over" you, because they'd be taking a huge loss. It is actually cheaper to sell actual beef as beef, than to sell horsemeat as beef.

Horsemeat is perfectly legal, I too thought it was prohibited, but its not, its legal, just taboo with some people.

The only thing with this is, as a friend joked with me "Unexpected item in bagging area.", in other words, it was incorrectly labelled and therefore mis-sold, and the stores and processor will get a huge fine for that. Not because its "illegal meat", because its not.

As a side note, when I was on holiday a few years ago, I tried horsemeat (correctly labelled) for the first time, and loved it. Its better textured, and better flavoured than beef. I'm actually rather happy to find you can actually source it here, if you look hard enough.

Originally posted by PsykoOps
Horse meat is delicious. Dont know why Uk law would still prohibit it. Makes no sense.

Horse meat isn't illegal, that isn't what the fuss is about. It is purely a labelling and honesty issue, if they can try to sell horse as beef, then it begs the question what else are they doing to the food supply.

Originally posted by woodwardjnr

Originally posted by michael1983l
I want a big fat horse meat juicy steak. Just don't call it a beef burger, I will still buy it.

Would you eat a dog if it tasted good? Don't you think man has a certain relationship with some animals. A certain kinship.

I would chow down on Rover if the situation demanded it, but I wouldn't choose to unless I had to.

I'd eat pretty much anything if I was hungry enough, I'd even go so far as eating you if there was no other food around (don't worry - I wouldn't kill you, but I'd be circling you like a vulture until you expired waste not, want not ).

It is, after all, the way of nature, everything eats everything else eventually.

reply to post by stumason


Well I've just finished 6 months of hard core toxic drugs and growth hormone, so I would probably taste like your average horse/cow burger from Tescos.

reply to post by woodwardjnr


Mmmmmmm - yummy!

I actually like those burgers that started this whole thing off - maybe it was the pedigree race horse in them that did it!

I have eaten when I was a kid, it was darker than beef but also marbled and tender. I wouldnt eat it now unless it was bred especially for that purpose because it is most likely to be a failed race horse and I know what goes in to race horses. I also read that hare is the closest in taste to horse meat.