Findus Beef Lasagne Now!

[vakayu]

Just been announced 60% horsemeat in this product,is anything with minced beef actually just beef?

[rockyracoon]

Somebody needs to be in the clink over this, how much more is going to come out.

I'm glad I don't use ready meals very often.

[boxtops]

Oh well - probably been eating it for years, had we but known it.

[Zeuhl]

What next?

Mad Horse Disease?

[EcclesCake]

One of the reasons I avoid processed food is because I have reservations about what is described as 'beef'. To be honest I'd happily have horse if I knew I was eating muscle and not sinew.

I much prefer to go to my butcher and see him trimming meat for my mince/pies/casseroles than eat processed meals.

[craft1948]

I've eaten horse meat in France, nowt wrong with it.

[shoota]

Just perhaps some people might have second thoughts about criticising those of us who harvest our own meat now?
Or is that a forlorn hope?

[Buenchico]

What confuses me is how using horsemeat saves money. Whenever I buy horse steaks, in France or Belgium, they're bloody expensive!

[Ratty2E]

It's not just horse meat though, this latest one has got traces of drugs not fit for human consumption. So glad I know where all the meat I buy comes from and what species it is.

[vakayu]

Zeuhl you're cheerful,I shudder to think what they will unearth next,as I asked on another thread would any of us know the difference if we saw horsemeat in a butcher's or not,are there any distinguishing features such as colour texture etc?

[factor-fiction]

>60% horsemeat in this product
Have you got a link please vakayu? I thought Findus Lasagne was being removed from Tesco as a precaution while checks are made , but maybe things have moved on

[rockyracoon]

I've no objections to people eating horsemeat, but there should be a choice. Also what is concerning, some horses have been given a drug that render them unable to enter the food chain, how do we know these dishonest manufacturers didn't use these animals, hopefully tests will be done.

[rockyracoon]

Here you are Factor.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/tests-reveal-findus-frozen-beef-lasagnes-contain-more-than-60-per-cent-horse-meat-8485962.html

[vakayu]

Sorry factor maybe someone else can do a link,it was just on the stv news at 6.30.

[vakayu]

No sooner asked than done,thank-you rockyracoon.

[chrisgel]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2275166/Findus-admits-frozen-lasagne-99-horsemeat-dont-know-long-shelves.html#axzz2K4O3F9Le

99% according to this

[factor-fiction]

Thanks, rocky.
At over 60% it's certainly not an oversight/minor contamination issue then- it seems like deliberate deception

[rockyracoon]

I agree factor and as chico says, he doesn't see how it's cheaper, that could lead people to believe that the meat used was bought on the cheap and not fit for human consumption.

[LazyGun]

This from the FSA

http://www.food.gov.uk/news-updates/news/2013/feb/findus#.URP9PaW6cXQ

It comes back to what we have discussed before - the consumer is being ripped off if they are buying a product described as beef lasagne that is actually adulterated with meat from a different animal. This is about consumer confidence, provenance of the source, and quality of the product as described.

From a food safety perspective , you can argue that horse meat is tastier and healthier than beef, but that is missing the point, especially if this adulteration of beef with horsemeat allows phenylbutazeine into the food chain - a product often used in horses as a painkiller, but that in rare cases in humans exposed to it can cause aplastic anaemia....

[SeaJayPea]

There's only one answer - go back to buying meat from local butchers. As Eccles says, that way, you can see what's going on with the food you're eating.

[vakayu]

Would someone please answer this,is there any distinguishing features in colour,texture etc from say beef and horsemeat that we would recognise and be able to tell the difference even in butchers?