Not really.

How ironic now is the term "I could eat a scabby horse"

The Food Standards Agency are pointing the finger at the EU which gave two days notice when it banned the method of creating cheap beef, used by Tesco's UK suppliers.

Had the EU not banned the method, which involves using high pressure to strip meat off the carcass, Tesco would not have been using suppliers from outside the UK.

You can't seriously want to blame Tesco, Aldi, Findus etc for the actions of the EU and unscrupulous businesses, who took advantage of the EU stretching the supply line.

The EU, in banning the source that Tesco, and others used, just meant that the meat they required had to be sourced elsewhere, and what simpler way of instantly catering for that demand, as cows don't grow to full size in two days from birth, than to start mixing in other meats?

I know you have a grudge against Tesco, but do you want them to start buying farms? That's what they could do to ensure that they have control of the meat from birth to slaughter. And then see how rich they would be if they controlled the entire food chain.

All of these retailers should conduct stricter tests, but they operate on trust, just as you and I do. And this also raises the question of what the Food standards agency has been doing and what they are supposed to do?

And just so you know it's not just Tesco, even Waitrose have been on the receiving end of mixed products:

To answer dpb

I worked for Dairy Crest for 11 years as an engineer at a well respected dairy.

Next to the American military, Tescos and Sainsbury's were the hardest customers to please. The milk was tested and audited at every step with full traceablility. Before the custmers accepted the milk we had to PROVE it was milk. That it was not contaminated, safe and would reach it's shelf life.

I am not scare mongering, just asking how our government can be so certain that the **** we have been sold by greedy foreigners is safe to eat.




:)

Fair enough about trust, but having dealt with this industry in the past, the retailer will specify the grade of meat they want.
Tesco value (and every other 'value') cheap shyte brand will be the lowest of the low - and they already know this.

Plain and simple - they can't

The lowest of the low beef, rather than the lowest of the low mixture they've been receiving.

We know the supermarkets have produce made for them, which is just branded.

Alcazar would be pleased if Tesco started buying farms, abattoirs and the factories to produce the meals in ;)

What else will this scandal change?

Will more people start preparing their own meals?
Will children be taught to cook at school?
Will those who rely on cheap meals due to tight budgets, suddenly find that they have to buy more expensive food and eat less?
Will there be job cuts as abattoirs, factories etc which are caught out close down causing a rise in unemployment and greater demand for benefits, whilst meaning there is even less money out there to be spent, causing the economy to falter, yet again?

It's all good fun...

OK fair point - lowest of the low beef.

What level of scandal is this at though - how many other British companies are at it.
The government simply can't point the finger at the EU anymore.

Get off your horse and drink your milk. :thumb:

What would you like on your burger sir?

£2 each way please.

Another thing I can't quite make out. Have Tesco (and any other supermarket for that matter) been conned themselves, or did they know that they were selling food products not as described?

I don't have a problem eating Horse or any other meat for that matter. It is the accountability and traceability that bothers me. As I explained before, I worked in a food industry that is heavily regulated and audited by the supermarkets and the government. I expected this level of responsibility, accountability and safety to be extended across all food products. So where did the system go wrong exactly?

For instance, for all you veggies out there. How sure are you that your Quorn bolognaise is just that, not the crap thay couldn't sell to Tescos as Beef Bolognaise?




:wonder:

I believe Tesco's have been conned

Is it right that Findus are now suspected to be selling dodgy fishfingers- sea horse detected?

I should have known as my grandad had a Burger at our house and said it was "Champion".

I dont like being lied to but I dont mind eating Horse, I suspect Tesco didnt ask any questions when maximising the profit on their ready meal, all to the glory of their profits and share dividend, their ongoing plans for world domination, the irony is that they will soon probably be offering "Taste the Difference" 100 percent Shetland Pony burgers at £7 a pack as they are premium Horse.

How long before they find dead bodies dissapearing from Romanian Mortuaries ?

Soylent Green anyone ?




:wonder:

Exactly. That's what gets me. :mad: It's not about the fact that it was horse's meat. The point is that the label should say what it is. Then we can make up our own mind about eating it ir not. Simplez.

Well we just don't know, do we? We could have been eating rat meat in our burgers for what we know. :(

I've always thought this whole saga reminds me of the Charlton Heston film from the 70's, 'Soylent Green'.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/e9aa/

http://a.tgcdn.net/images/products/f...n_crackers.jpg





:)

its quite simple, supermarket shafts supplier (findus etc) in order to make more profit in turn the supplier shafts the meat supplier who in order to make a profit has to source meat from more and more dodgy places in order to make a profit, its not rocket science is it, i know a potatoe farmer who grows the little potatoes you get in trays for salads, bought at m&s prices works out at £1320 per tonne he gets the grand sum of £81 per tonne washed and bagged, commercial greed is to blame here nothing more, the supermarkets are at the end of the day to blame indirectkly

I hear its not just been in burgers but kebabs also....

bet you didn't know any meat from anywhere can bear the little red tractor mark so long as it was packaged in the uk :thumb:

I don't really remember a tractor sign tbh. I always looked for the British standard hallmark type of sign. It looks like the rotary club's flowery ribbon badge in red. Now I won't ever trust any mark- may it be a badge, tractor, trailor or even a horse box in any colour.

After the BSE scandal i thought Beef was suppose to be traceable through the complete supply chain!

I believe Tesco etc knew what was going on but they have such good lawyers they will be immune.

The fact that the EU wide testing wont start for 2 weeks which gives time to remove Horse from the supply chain in for most meat and fresh ready meals as they will have been sold or thrown away by the time it starts meaning we will never know what the extent of what has happened mean while how do all the people sold horse meat get refunds under the trade description act etc maybe Tesco should look on club card history and send a £10 voucher to anyone buying the contaminated ready meals in the last year

In fact how long has this gone on???

Funnily enoug, someone at work mentioned that yesterday, never heard of it until then.

Thats one point, but as far as i am concerned it creates a lack of trust in everything we buy.

Is it safe is just a distraction from the real argument - How could this happen??

Whats the point in all this food control when the system fails in this way, and for how long has this being going on??

Spanghero seem to be copping the flack at the moment. Such brilliant statements as
No sh1t Sherlock!




:)

I dont buy or eat this crap so am not personally impacted by it. Here's the thing though, the testing being carried out is DNA testing, this is not capable of detemining which parts of the horse have been incorporated into the product, there is every possibility that horse offal is the bulking agent.

The food standards agency are being very quiet at present, while local farmers have to account for their produce from "feedstock to fork", there seems to be a more lax attitude adopted towards the big supermarkets. Lamb is the next most expensive mainstream red meat - wonder what DNA testing will reveal that being cut with.

As a colleague said to me this morning, he had tesco's meat balls for dinner last night, they really were the dogs bollox. :)

750 tonnes discovered....so far.

You probably eaten more of this crap than you realise




:D

If I have, it tasted ok:thumb:

pretty sure they said to be at risk of the chems being a problem you needed to have eaten 750+ burgers of 100% horse meat that has been contaminate and within a 12 month period. I seriously doubt anyone has eaten half that amount.

as usual press blowing one detail up but ignoring the rest important bits.