Horsemeat scandal: Four new products test positive (taco bell)

[The Straight Story]

Four beef products sold by Bird's Eye, Taco Bell and catering supplier Brakes have been found to contain horse DNA, the Food Standards Agency says.

This is the third wave of test results received by the FSA, which has now received a total of 5,430 test results.

Meanwhile, new tests conducted on beef retail products revealed no new cases of horsemeat adulteration, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has said.

This latest round of tests saw 1,797 products being examined.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21631961

[warrprayer]

1. Taco Bell?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

[The Straight Story]

2. Hell, the fact that have any real beef at all is a plus in my book

[dixiegrrrrl]

18. Taco Bell used that pink slime for "meat"

I seem to remember, there was a big outcry about it last year.

[glinda]

47. I just do the bean and cheese burritos. Whew!

[Brickbat]

3. Not in the U.S.

[OhioChick]

4. Yet n/t

[HiPointDem]

5. +1. global neoliberal economy, baby! caveat emptor!

Horsemeat scandal blamed on international fraud by mafia gangs

DNA testing of food to be stepped up following fears there has been criminal activity on an international scale

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/feb/09/horsemeat-scandal-international-fraud

[DeschutesRiver]

11. The U.S. isn't testing for horse meat or bute in beef, so we don't know one way or the other.

The USDA inspectors don't test for it.

The FDA only inspects 1-2% and there is not horsemeat DNA or drug test done in those inspections afaik.

Not knowing because we refuse to test for it is not the same as testing and knowing for certain. Even their usual random testing to now include a drug test would be better than nothing.

But it will likely take a private citizen to do so...and I imagine that if this keeps expanding, someone will test their meat/processed foods, etc. and then we'll see what is found.

I don't eat those things so it isn't impacting me. But if I were doing so, I'd like to know that there is no drugged black market meats in either the ground meat or processed food with meat. The type of meat I wouldn't care so much about, other than the fraud and overpaying aspect.

But the drugs, yeah, I'd need to know about that so that I could choose not to eat drug laced, cheap racetrack meat.

[KamaAina]

26. I hate to tell you this, but

beef produceers routinely lace their cattle feed with antibiotics, not because the animals are sick but because it promotes weight gain.

[DeschutesRiver]

41. I know that and it is the reason I raise my own small herd. And that is all the meat I eat.

If I am on the road, I bring it with me or eat vegetarian.

I'd use antibiotics if necessary, but in 10 years, it has not been needed. They are pretty healthy - I've only lost a few and those were all to birthing hardships. They free range on high desert grasses on my land and hay in the winter. They are born here and die here without leaving their high desert range. The work isn't for everyone, but we enjoy it.

When I get too old to maintain our herd, I will quit eating beef.

[kestrel91316]

32. USDA veterinarians visually inspect all livestock at U.S. slaughterhouses prior

to slaughter or processing. I'm pretty sure they all know the difference between cattle and horses.

[TheMadMonk]

34. Imported processed meat & pre-packaged foods genius.

I'm sure inspectors can tell the difference for kills on American soil. But not what takes place in other countries.

Kestrel really?

[kestrel91316]

36. USDA does inspections overseas for all meats imported into the US.

REALLY.

And we don't lose our ability to tell horses from cattle when we get posted to a facility abroad.

[TheMadMonk]

39. Mince meat is mince meat in meat sauces. And DNA testing is not done.

Chunks are chunks in stews.

So instantly meals in a can (or ANYTHING of a like nature) can be suspect. simple as that.

Fish is most certainly illegally substituted all the time, why not bits of meat?

[DeschutesRiver]

45. I agree, as it is as possible for beef as we already know happens with fish.

Anything ground can potentially be a mix, since grinding can also be done in store where there are no inspectors on site.

And anyone who is willing to substitute another meat product for the one stated on the label is capable of anything, in my book. And that means adulterated meat, and since I raise my own livestock, I am not keen on eating someone else's drugged up product.

[DeschutesRiver]

44. Maybe your town is different than mine, but in both the butcher shops and the meat counter at

the grocery store, chunks of already inspected beef, say a chuck roast, or a sirloin roast, etc, from the U.S., Canada, and elsewhere, are then ground into hamburger. My mom was a meat wrapper and this is pretty standard across the U.S.

USDA inspectors are not on site or present for this grinding. Did you think I meant the USDA inspections at meat plants? Sorry for any confusion. USDA inspectors are not present for the grinding of this product at these venues. I am present when my beef is ground and wrapped and there are no USDA inspectors at that butcher shop either. Anything can be mixed with it there, if the operators were either unscrupulous or needing to cost cut to stay afloat.

[Capt. Obvious]

6. It would be an improvement

[Spitfire of ATJ]

33. Bill Maher once said, "Taco" spelled backwards is "Oh,....Cat" (Phonetic)

[Ken Burch]

43. Actually, that also explains what happened to the Chihuahua...

But I assume nobody wants to go there.

[sakabatou]

7. Another reason to just get the vegetarian version of the food

[srican69]

12. what makes you think that its vegetarian -farmers use bloodmeal and other animal parts to fertlize

soil for the crops ...

[sakabatou]

13. Wouldn't know. I don't go there anymore.

[RebelOne]

16. Me neither.

I have only been there once, and that is because a friend from out of town had a craving for Taco Bell and I got a vegetarian burrito. Who knows what was in it?

[AnotherMcIntosh]

8. When wild horses are harvested from federal land in the US, is the meat shipped to Europe?

What happens to the meat?

Is it more profitable to sell it as beef or mix it in with beef? (That, of course, is a rhetorical question.)

[DURHAM D]

9. Probably but -

USDA May Approve Horse Slaughter Plant

"The United States Department of Agriculture is likely to approve a horse slaughtering plant in New Mexico in the next two months, which would allow equine meat suitable for human consumption to be produced in the United States for the first time since 2007."

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100511357


ETA: The Romanian Horse Cart Ban That's (Probably) Behind Europe's Horse Meat Scandal

http://www.forbes.com/sites/nadiaarumugam/2013/02/14/the-romanian-horse-cart-ban-thats-probably-behind-europes-horse-meat-scandal/

I read another article that said the ban caused an excess of 70,000-80,000 horses and donkeys.

[KamaAina]

24. This should be an OP

At the heart of the scandal, it’s now alleged, are two meat traders, one from Oosterhout (in southwest Netherlands) and the other, known as Jan F., the director of a Cyprus-based meat trading company called Draap Trading.

Incidentally, Draap is horse in Dutch, spelt backwards.

These men are said to be the missing link between Romanian abattoirs and French suppliers. Both men have been convicted in the past for passing off South American horse meat as halal-slaughtered Dutch beef.

So why are they still allowed to sell meat to food processors in the EU?!

[AC_Mem]

22. i used to work for a company

who flew chartered flights to Japan with horses for slaughter. we called them the horseburger flights. sad, but true this was over 10 years ago....

[FarCenter]

10. If you were concerned about what you were eating, you weren't eating at Taco Bell

You mean there's actual meat in those?

[spanone]

14. i bet it's everywhere....i see no reason why corporate america would NOT be in on the scam

[Dash87]

15. Taco Bell tested positive for real beef?

wtf? When did this happen?

[tridim]

19. Grade F meat: Mostly circus animals and some filler.

[Canuckistanian]

17. Now Taco Bell is introducing the new "Caballito"

Ingredient list pending.

[BadgerKid]

29. Gives me the idea to order a caballo burrito next time. n/t

[quakerboy]

20. ummm. Whoop te?

Let me know when they start testing for human meat. That's the main one that concerns me. Otherwise, meat is meat, and if you think you know what your getting from any fast food spot, especially Taco Bell, then really, you aren't thinking.

[Heather MC]

25. if it had a mommy, it must be good!

[quakerboy]

35. If you are going to eat meat

I fail to see a huge difference between a cow and a horse.

[Heather MC]

37. Horses can talk

[KamaAina]

21. Drop the chalupa!

[cbdo2007]

23. wow, I thought all their meat was just that protein powder stuff. This is breaking news

that it's actual meat of any type.

[BlueStreak]

27. Yo quiero Trigger y Silver

[pinboy3niner]

38. ¡Yo quiero Señor Ed!

After a great meal, you'll be ready to hit the hay, Wilbur.

[BlueStreak]

42. Donde esta Los Clydesdales de Budweiser?

And I bet that Dalmatian would be tasty too.

[MissNostalgia]

28. Why even bother with any meat

Food companies just don't care anymore or have any fear of consequences. I'm surprise the FSA hasn't found modified cardboard or plastics being passed off as food yet.

[BadgerKid]

30. Explains why customers have been getting the trots.

[asjr]

31. LOL Good one!

[Rosa Luxemburg]

40. Some stewing beef in supermarkets tastes like horse

a few weeks ago I bought some stewing beef for a pot pie and it tasted strong. I suspected horse.

[BainsBane]

46. horsemeat is better than pink slime

and the ammonia used to treat ground beef in this country.