Horse Meat Found in Other Ground Meat Sold in U.S.

[donnay]

Horse Meat Found in Other Ground Meat Sold in U.S.

A study has found meat mislabeling in 10 of 48 samples sold commercially. Find out what is causing the problem.

By Karla Bowsher on August 21, 2015 / Photo (cc) by Danielle Scott

Research into the mislabeling of meats has uncovered horse meat mixed in with other ground meat sold in the U.S. commercial market.

For a study of ground meat products sold in the U.S., researchers from the Food Science Program at Chapman University in California analyzed 48 samples and found that 10 were mislabeled.

One sample was entirely mislabeled with regard to what type of animal meat it contained. Nine samples had meat from an additional type of animal mixed in. In two of those cases, the mix contained horse meat, which is illegal to sell in the U.S.

Rosalee Hellberg, an assistant professor in the Food Science Program and co-author on both studies, states in a news release from Chapman University:

“Although extensive meat species testing has been carried out in Europe in light of the 2013 horsemeat scandal, there has been limited research carried out on this topic in the United States. To our knowledge, the most recent U.S. meat survey was published in 1995.”

The study notes two possible explanations for multiple types of animal meat being found in the same ground meat product:

Unintentional cross-contamination at the meat processing facility. This occurs when multiple types of animal meat are ground on the same equipment without it being properly cleaned in-between.
Intentional mixing in of a lower-cost animal meat with a higher-cost meat for economic gain, such as to reduce costs or increase profits.

Another study by the same researchers found that 10 out of 54 samples of game meat sold online by U.S. retailers were potentially mislabeled.

Two products labeled as bison and one labeled as yak were identified as domestic cattle. One product labeled as black bear was American beaver, and one labeled as pheasant was helmeted guinea fowl.

Continued...

[Dianne]

I'm getting ready to barf as we speak. I can't trust anything I eat anymore (( .

[dannno]

Legalize horse meat - what's wrong with it?

Oh ya.. I forgot, little girls everywhere will flip the $#@! out.

[Danke]

Horse meat ain't bad. Lean, marinade it. Ate it raw in Japan.

[donnay]

I'm getting ready to barf as we speak. I can't trust anything I eat anymore (( .

Try and buy local, that is your best bet. Just another reason why the USDA should be abolished--they are worthless.

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

btw horses aren't people

[donnay]

Legalize horse meat - what's wrong with it?

Oh ya.. I forgot, little girls everywhere will flip the $#@! out.

Aren't you a Brony?

[TheTexan]

btw horses aren't people

Neither are dogs but AF still gets pissed when cops do their sacred duty

[donnay]

Horse meat ain't bad. Lean, marinade it. Ate it raw in Japan.

[thoughtomator]

Nothing wrong with horse meat. It's only the American cultural affinity for the animal which makes it distasteful to the public.

[dannno]

Aren't you a Brony?

Paleo brony

[donnay]

I have no objection to horse meat...my problem is the deceptive practices. If I am buying horse meat then say so and I will buy it or I wont, but don't package it with a label saying, "Beef." The cross-contamination of the meats is a problem as well.

[dannno]

I have no objection to horse meat...my problem is the deceptive practices. If I am buying horse meat then say so and I will buy it or I wont, but don't package it with a label saying, "Beef." The cross-contamination of the meats is a problem as well.

Well, in my opinion, there will probably always be deceptive labelling to some extent and the marketplace should help to work that out some how...

But... I think.. if horse meat was legal to sell, it probably wouldn't show up in other meats as often. The reason is that I'm guessing that if one produced horse meat for the purpose of selling it, that it would cost at least as much as beef to raise and so there would be no reason to put horse meat in ground beef or any other type of meat. The reason it goes in currently is because it has no value in the market for horse meat due to it's legal status, so we are talking about either throwing it away where the value is zero, or mixing it in with other meats where it retains some value.

[angelatc]

Overall, the researchers found that mislabeled meat was more commonly obtained from online specialty meat distributors rather than from supermarkets.

Fools and money......

[CPUd]

LOL "deceptive", they are cutting corners on the changeovers (not cleaning the equipment, changing the packaging, etc).

[tod evans]

You'll never have this problem if you get your meat locally wrapped in white butcher paper stamped in red ink "Not for resale"...

[specsaregood]

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[specsaregood]

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[tod evans]

Your local butcher wont ever accidently cross contaminate the equipment? I doubt that.

When's the last time you walked into the cutting room of your local butcher?

I trust mine.

[specsaregood]

//

[Zippyjuan]

As it notes:

Unintentional cross-contamination at the meat processing facility. This occurs when multiple types of animal meat are ground on the same equipment without it being properly cleaned in-between.

and

Overall, the researchers found that mislabeled meat was more commonly obtained from online specialty meat distributors rather than from supermarkets.

Specialty meat producers are more likely to handle different kinds of meat. If you don't clean out the grinder 100% between batches, you may get some residual from the previous batch in the new one. (which is also why Starbucks won't grind anybody else's brand of coffee but only their own for you). The grinder has to be completely taken apart and cleaned and put together again before another sort of meat is put in it. The study reported "traces" in two batches of 48 with horse meat. Supermarkets buy from large processors which usually only handle one type of meat.

There isn't horse meat in your burgers at the supermarket.

[donnay]

As it notes:



and



Specialty meat producers are more likely to handle different kinds of meat. If you don't clean out the grinder 100% between batches, you may get some residual from the previous batch in the new one. (which is also why Starbucks won't grind anybody else's brand of coffee but only their own for you). The grinder has to be completely taken apart and cleaned and put together again before another sort of meat is put in it. The study reported "traces" in two batches of 48 with horse meat. Supermarkets buy from large processors which usually only handle one type of meat.

There isn't horse meat in your burgers at the supermarket.

So says the great and powerful, Zippy behind the curtain.

[Dianne]

Why would anyone eat horse meat? There's only like 200 in the entire world. Not like there's an abundance of horses. Why make an entire species extinct? You gonna be next?

[navy-vet]

Anyone that eats a dog, cat, or a horse unless they are starving, is reprehensible IMO.

[specsaregood]

Why would anyone eat horse meat? There's only like 200 in the entire world. Not like there's an abundance of horses. Why make an entire species extinct? You gonna be next?

I'm quite certain there are many more than 200 horses in the entire world.

[Dianne]

Anyone that eats a dog, cat, or a horse unless they are starving, is reprehensible IMO.

Same here.

[Dianne]

I'm quite certain there are many more than 200 horses in the entire world.

Well, when was the last time you saw a horse walking across your front yard? I was being sarcastic, but you must agree this world is not being over run with horses.... especially those with "eat me" signs.

[GunnyFreedom]

I'm quite certain there are many more than 200 horses in the entire world.

Roughly 58,400,000 at last count.

[CPUd]

Anyone that eats a dog, cat, or a horse unless they are starving, is reprehensible IMO.

There are many millions of people who would say the same thing about cattle.

[GunnyFreedom]

Well, when was the last time you saw a horse walking across your front yard? I was being sarcastic, but you must agree this world is not being over run with horses.... especially those with "eat me" signs.

Now I have no desire to eat horse, but some perspective is called for here. Horse populations are declining, but they are in no danger. Indeed, it would seem that feral horse populations are actually becoming a problem in the west:

The American west is being overrun by wild horses
Keith Wagstaff

August 26, 2013

America has way, way too many horses, according to a new study published in Science, and it could cost U.S. taxpayers $1.1 billion over the next 17 years.

There are about 33,000 wild horses running free in the United States. Descended from animals brought over by the Spanish in the 1500s, they roam throughout public lands in western states like Colorado, Nevada, Wyoming, and Montana.

Overpopulation is a big concern. Too many horses could result in rangelands being stripped bare and an eventual population crash, which is why the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has a mandate to keep the number of wild horses at 23,622.

http://theweek.com/articles/460722/a...by-wild-horses

Now, if horse populations were growing scarce, then legalizing them to eat would likely be one of the best ways to preserve the species, considering that they would then be farmed like cattle...of which there are 1.4 billion on the planet.