Discussion of Marsha's Industry Standard: Horsemeat Scandal

[Robin Garr]

Industry Standard: Insider info for those who dine out

The Great Horsemeat Scandal of 2013

By Marsha Lynch

Oh. Ugh. Burger King acknowledged a few weeks ago that some of its burgers sold in Britain and Ireland had unfortunately included a percentage of horsemeat. Some patties sold at British supermarket chain Tesco included up to 29-percent horsemeat. Worst of all, some crappy frozen lasagna included ground horsemeat, as well. If you're a Kentucky-American, do you feel a certain sense of outrage and disgust?

My initial response was the same. My gut reaction: Yikes, horsemeat. How dare they slip that in? Could it be that our near-spiritual connection to horses here in the bluegrass causes this automatic disconnect? I think so. Also, we in Kentucky know that (at least) racehorses sometimes have drugs in their bodies. These drugs are not optimal for humans to ingest.

But, food safety professor Chris Elliott of Queens University, Belfast, emphasizes that from eating any of the suspected items, one is only going to get one-millionth of the amount of phenylbutazone that a horse injected with the medication would. The real health hazard is from the amount of fats and salt in the processed food products found to contain horsemeat.

But wait, you say -- horses are intelligent and noble. They are our friends, our workers, our track stars. I understand. Nobody wants "Leg of Seven Bells" or "Secretariat Jerky," right? Look, I've never eaten horsemeat. But I have to admit, I'd try it if I knew it was obtained at least as humanely as game meat (such as venison) or beef, and minimally adulterated by harmful chemicals or drugs. By all accounts, it's sweet and tender and lean as all get out.

But I had to ask myself -- why is horsemeat less defensible than foie gras, which I love? I've never bought into the foie gras ban craze. I know goose liver can be produced and harvested as humanely as a chicken tender -- probably more humanely. Hardly anyone is nailing geese feet to a board anymore, and most foie gras geese are pretty free-range and do not have to suffer force-feeding -- they actually run up to their feeding tube at meal time. I also love sweetbreads (the thymus gland of a calf). If you've never tried them, please do. It's like the most adult version of a chicken nugget you will ever taste. And it means we are using more parts of a beef carcass than would typically be used just for veal, tenderloins or ground beef.

So why would I be scandalized by the inclusion of horsemeat in British ground meats? I think, in the end, it's all about the lack of disclosure. Don't feed me "scallops" that are actually round divots punched out of a skate wing or shark fin. Don't offer me "wild salmon" that is farm-raised. And please don't feed me deep-fried slices of pig rectum and represent them as calamari rings (true story).

Maybe it's our crazy American aversion to the French. Some of them like horsemeat and have passed their affinity on to some of our Canadian brothers and sisters. Do they eat it with frites (Belgian fries)? Do they need steak sauce, or -- if no one's looking -- ketchup? Are they eating it with some sort of aioli we have yet to conceive of?

Here's a pertinent quote from E.B. White's "Charlotte's Web":

Templeton was down there now, rummaging around. When he returned to the barn, he carried in his mouth an advertisement he had torn from a crumpled magazine. "How's this?" he asked, showing the ad to Charlotte.

"It says 'Crunchy.' 'Crunchy' would be a good word to write in your web."

"Just the wrong idea," replied Charlotte. "Couldn't be worse. We don't want Zuckerman to think Wilbur is crunchy. He might start thinking about crisp, crunchy bacon and tasty ham. That would put ideas into his head. We must advertise Wilbur's noble qualities, not his tastiness."

We must advertise Mr. Ed's noble qualities. So get right on that, won't you? Otherwise I'll see you for horse lettuce wraps in someone's breakfast nook sometime soon. Oh, boy. I'm in trouble now.

P.S. -- This is my 60th Industry Standard column, thanks to everyone who reads it. I once saw someone reading my column on the bus. That was the proudest moment of my writing life. Thanks, Robin Garr and the editorial staff of LEO for letting me write this column. It's truly been a joy.

Marsha Lynch has worked at many Louisville independent restaurants including Limestone, Jack Fry's, Jarfi's, L&N Wine Bar and Bistro and Cafe Lou Lou. She now works for her alma mater, Sullivan University, as sous chef of Juleps Catering.

Read it on LouisvilleHotBytes:
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/the-g ... al-of-2013
and in LEO Weekly:
http://leoweekly.com/dining/industry-st ... ine-out-48

Excellent, very sensible take on the issue, Marsha!

Frankly I've lost track of the scope of the horsemeat scandal. Suffice it to say that the entire food chain in Europe, top to bottom, has been affected. School lunches, hospital food, fast food, prepared frozen food, Döner Kebaps, IKEA's Kötbullar and even those €1.50 wieners they sell. Basically it's everywhere. I haven't had to change my habits much since I've always been careful about shopping. I did have a Köfka Kebap today and figured it might be a bit horsey but....YOLO!

I guess growing up here has had its effect on me. I would never eat horse meat. Never ever. I was outraged that KY Derby winner Ferdinand was slaughtered for consumption in Japan. Now most race horses sold to foreign intests have a clause that has them shipped home once their stud duties are exhausted. Once home they get to relax and enjoy old age as they should. They preformed for us. Ran their hearts out for our entertain eat and financial gain, or loss and they deserve a noble end. Not to end up on the dinner table.

Other countries don't get our take on this. Maybe because they are further removed from the horse culture than we are. It was only a hundred years ago that ford started making cars here in KY. We are linked to horse culture. Horses were our life line and are still our friends.

I may be in the minority here, but other than the obvious problem of mislabeling. I really don't see a problem with using horsemeat for food. I know in Kentucky horses are held at a higher level than other types of livestock, but that's not true worldwide. Some countries and religions actually won't eat cows because they hold them to a higher esteem. Much like Marsha's mentioning foie gras, it's all about what you grow up believing is right.

I have eaten horsemeat, not because it's something I set out to do, but because a person I was dining with said the dish was very good and I should try it. Granted, this wasn't in the United States, but I had no qualms with eating it, because to them, it was normal. I'm not sure I would order it again for myself, but I am sure that I wouldn't order it just because it was horsemeat.

I ate horse in Japan. It was really good.

I understand. Nobody wants "Leg of Seven Bells"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/0 ... 90158.html

I posted a fairly comprehensive piece on the history of horsemeat consumption in the USA in the main scandal thread.

I suppose it was easier to ignore the facts and information therein in favor of a light-hearted piece like this.

The only "crazy aversion to the French" that I'm aware of was promulgated by the war-mongers who didn't appreciate France's distaste & critique of our Iraq misadventure.

Late to this, but I was hoping for a restaurant discussion that never materialized.
OK, where the heck can I go to get horse on the menu? I can't recall seeing it around here but I've obviously not been to all the restaurants and really haven't looked for it but with the recent talk about it, I am looking for the opportunity.
My wife and I have always enjoyed trying different kinds of meat, myself from whatever doesn't breathe water. The notion that cows, chicken and pigs are A-OK and other creatures with central nervous systems that aren't outright toxic (blowfish, etc.) are somehow more subject to judgment is clearly ludicrous. Diane has cooked us beaver, bear, kangaroo, ostrich, etc. at home over the years for something different. You can get deer, elk, sheep, goat and other hooved animal meat at restaurants.
I was dining with some folks tonight and mentioned I'd like to try some horse and, serious as a heart attack, got a sort of aghast response from a fellow diner. I searched my soul and came up blank on the differentiation between one variety of animal and another. Vegetarians can make a case based on their points of view, either in terms of ethics or health that are logically consistent, but my companion said we don't eat dogs and cats because they are our friends. I've lived my whole life with friends of both species. So I said I'd be willing to try dog or cat in a restaurant (true). This did not improve the tone of our discussion and we went on to other topics.
I accept being an omnivore who is willing to try meat from any animal based on whether I think it might pass the "tastes good" test - full stop. To be consistent anyone who eats part of the body of something that had a central nervous system has to use that as the only test. Otherwise, someone needs to enlighten me on how killing animal "A" with it's own life, consciousness, experience of pain, social relationships with its mates and offspring, etc. is any different from the same deal with animal "B". I eat about 85% vegetarian for health reasons as well as to lessen but not eliminate any killing that results from my choice to eat meat. But if there's anyone who makes a moral or emotional distinction between killing one type of animal for your dinner versus another, I'd ask you to go with a hatchet and look into the eyes of the next chicken, pig or cow you consume and tell me that they'd willingly sacrifice their lives to spare Secretariat, Rin Tin Tin or Fluffy because of your emotional attachment to them.
Where in the 'Ville is horse on the menu?

I suspect it's unlikely Lonnie. Not sure which local restaurant wants to pursue that "progressive" menu item and then lose the business of pet lovers. Try Quebec maybe.

[Robin Garr]

Where in the 'Ville is horse on the menu?

Lonnie, while I admire your philosophical consistency and respect it, I think Dan is right: You're not likely to see Mr. Ed turn up on your plate at a Kentucky eatery any time soon, and this is for cultural reasons, not health reasons.

I suspect that in the time since we stopped relying on horses for transportation and farm work, and started keeping them for pleasure, the attitude towards horsemeat has changed. Horses now cross the line between livestock and companion animals. Many Americans look at eating horsemeat the same way as eating cat or dog.

It looks like you'll have to head to France, Italy or the low countries... for now.

Philly chefs weigh horsemeat despite European scanda

"I like the idea of being an authentic Italian restaurant. When I heard the ban was lifted, I was very pleased," McAndrews said, referring to the ban on horse slaughter in the United States, which was lifted in 2011, when Congress reinstated federal funding for U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection of horse meat.

http://articles.philly.com/2013-03-06/n ... restaurant

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Are horses slaughtered for meat for human consumption in the United States?

Not currently, although live horses from the United States are exported to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico. The lack of inspection effectively ended the slaughter of horse meat for human consumption in the United States; 2007 was the last year horses were slaughtered in the United States. At the time financing of inspections was banned, a Belgian company operated three horse meat processing plants — in Fort Worth and Kaufman, Tex., and DeKalb, Ill. — but exported the meat it produced in them.

Since 2011, efforts have been made to re-establish the processing of horse meat for human consumption in the United States. A small plant in Roswell, N.M., which used to process beef cattle into meat has been retooled to slaughter 20 to 25 horses a day. But legal challenges have prevented it from opening, Mr. Duquette said. Gov. Susana Martinez of New Mexico opposes opening the plant and has asked the U.S.D.A. to block it.

Last month, the two houses of the Oklahoma Legislature passed separate bills to override a law against the slaughter of horses for meat but kept the law’s ban on consumption of such meat by state residents. California, Illinois, New Jersey, Tennessee and Texas prohibit horse slaughter for human consumption.

Is there a market for horse meat in the United States?

Mr. Duquette said horse meat was popular among several growing demographic groups in the United States, including Tongans, Mongolians and various Hispanic populations. He said he knew of at least 10 restaurants that wanted to buy horse meat. “People are very polarized on this issue,” he said. Wayne Pacelle, chief executive of the Humane Society of the United States, disagreed, saying demand in the United States was limited. Italy is the largest consumer of horse meat, he said, followed by France and Belgium.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/busin ... tions.html

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my post in the other thread:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=20420&start=15#p153780

[Robin Garr]

Italy is the largest consumer of horse meat

This doesn't surprise me. As I blushingly admitted in another forum discussion on the topic, I've had both horse sausage and donkey ragu in Northern Italy, specifically in Bergamo in Lombardia and Valpolicella in the Veneto. It was good.