Salon.com > horse meat

Lawmakers push for ban on horse slaughter

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 19:03:00 +0000

For the first time in six years, the U.S. is set to begin slaughtering and exporting horses for human consumption. But the horse meat scandal sweeping much of Europe has raised the haunches, so to speak, of a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers who have proposed a permanent ban on the practice.

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-Pa., and Rep. Jan Schakowski, D-Ill., have co-sponsored the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act to ban domestic horse slaughter and the practice of shipping horses to other countries to be killed for human consumption. The House version was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Agriculture on Tuesday, and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions is currently considering the Senate measure.

“This is a bill whose time has come,” said Rep. Meehan at a press conference on Wednesday. “Until a ban is in place, every horse is just one bad sale away from being sent to slaughter.”

Have we lost our horse sense?

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 21:00:00 +0000

A 2007 federal ban against equine slaughterhouses followed a nationwide outcry over the federal government’s roundup of some wild horses, which wound up on the killing floor. Such things had happened many times over, but this time, in a different age, the atrocities were under more intense scrutiny. The term “atrocities” is not hyperbole, as witnesses to what goes on in and around slaughterhouses have stated.

The ban lapsed in 2011. But ever since it was enacted, there were efforts to reopen “rendering plants” for horses, and in recent weeks, they seem to have finally succeeded. A bill to authorize slaughterhouses in Oklahoma is advancing quickly, and New Mexico is now trying to harvest what some view as an untapped cash crop. The states will need the USDA to once again agree to inspect the plants and their horsemeat, and reports suggest that the USDA is poised to do just that. The White House, meanwhile, has asked Congress to reinstate the ban, and some representatives are starting to speak up in support, as Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., did Friday.

Ikea recalls chocolate cakes after fecal bacteria is detected

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 18:42:00 +0000

Sad lunchtime news: Only weeks after being outed for having traces of horse meat in their Swedish meatballs, furniture mega-retailer Ikea has recalled yet another food item from their shelves.

This time around it's the chain's chocolate almond cake, which Chinese authorities found contained excessive levels of coliform bacteria, which is present fecal matter.

Deep breaths, people. Deep breaths.

As reported by The Huffington Post, the Shanghai quarantine bureau reportedly destroyed 4,100 pounds of the chocolate almond cake that Ikea imported through a Swedish supplier. Ikea spokeswoman Ylva Magnusson said the company is looking into whether the cakes should be withdrawn from sale elsewhere. The company said it is making a "full investigation" with its supplier to ensure that there won't be any, ahem, crappy cakes on the market in the future.

In addition to grossing out every single person in the whole entire world, Ikea's newly tarnished food-safety record could seriously hurt the retailer's $35.17 billion in annual food sales revenue.

Everything you never wanted to know about the European horse meat scandal

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 17:46:00 +0000

It started when Ireland's food safety authority discovered that horse meat accounted for nearly 30 to 100 percent of the meat content of hamburgers being sold by major supermarket chains, but in less than a month, the scandal spread as horse meat -- and, in some cases, a powerful equine drug -- was found in beef products in Britain, Spain, Italy and Germany.

Today, there are nearly a dozen countries pulling products believed to be adulterated with horse DNA from their shelves, sparking a flurry of attention to a continent-wide crisis over international supply chains and a lack of transparency in food manufacturing standards.

Where did the horse meat even come from?

Good question, but it's a hard one to answer. Food supply chains are incredibly complex, so European authorities are scrambling to trace multiple sources. The number seems to grow by the day.

Burger King to DNA test burgers for horse meat

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 22:09:00 +0000

Although Burger King assures customers that it's beef patties are just that, the fast food giant is taking extra precautions. According to Business Week, the King will begin DNA testing its burger for foreign DNA, particularly horse meat, after it was discovered that a former supplier, Silvercrest, had sold meat containing traces equine DNA to other retailers (but never to Burger King). In a statement, Burger King told customers:

As we confirmed on 23rd of January, we transitioned all of our restaurants in the UK, Ireland and Denmark to other BURGER KING(R) approved suppliers from Germany and Italy as a precaution. These suppliers have provided DNA evidence to confirm their products are free of equine DNA. These are the product being sold in our restaurants today.

“We will dedicate ourselves to determining what lessons can be learned and what additional measures, including DNA testing and enhanced traceability controls, can be taken to ensure that we continue to provide you with the quality products you expect from us," said Diego Beamonte, vice president, Global Quality, Burger King Corporation in a statement.