Nothing wrong with eating horse - or more exotic animal meat: Editor's Eye comment

9:55am Wednesday 23rd January 2013 in News By Andrew Parkes, News Shopper editor

Would you try a burger if you knew it contained the meat of a more exotic animal? Would you try a burger if you knew it contained the meat of a more exotic animal?

ZEBRA steaks taste great. There, I’ve said it. What’s more, we should all try eating different animals.

Not only do they taste great, but in many cases it’s healthier.

I accept people have a right to know what they’re eating and secretly hiding lumps of horsemeat in something called a beefburger isn’t on.

But, there’s certainly nothing wrong with eating horse per se.

I’ve found the horse I’ve been served in the past hasn’t been great, but this was probably due to the presentation or my skills with a barbecue.

I think many of us are just too squeamish about putting some animals in our mouths.

I realise there is no point trying to convince vegetarians of the sense of this, but I think most normal meateaters could be persuaded to try something a little different and broaden their horizons.

In many cases it is our prejudices which hold us back, so there’s no point trying to be too exotic. Koreans, for example are happy eating dogs and we’ve all heard the stories about takeaways and stray cats, but trying something such as ostrich, bison, boar or alpaca should be fine.

The exclusivity of such meats mean they are currently too expensive for everyday fare, but as they become more popular the price will drop dramatically.

Anyway, have you tried buying a nice cut of beef recently? You’ll need a second mortgage.

Not far from where I live there is a field full of llamas and they seem to be thriving. True, they do look a little out of place in this country at first. But once you get used it, you view them like you would any other animal.

And I bet they taste good too.

What do you think about the horsemeat furore? Have you ever tried eating more exotic animals, and what did they taste like? Add your comments below.

Comments(23)

smurf4568 says...
10:26am Wed 23 Jan 13

As you say, nothing wrong with an informed choice, but when you're buying beef and get horse then there is a problem.

Using a slightly different example, if someone were allergic to a specific food and the packaging made no mention that it contained that food it could kill them. Not sure if anyone is allergic to horse, but stranger things have happened.

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bnorther says...
10:44am Wed 23 Jan 13

To me the issue isn't the horse meat. I've had horse meat in the past, albeit many years ago, in Belgium. It was lovely!

The news story here is that there is meat that is of unknown source. The horse may have been diseased or inhumanly killed etc.

Until we know where it all came from, for Ministers et. al. to say there is no heath risk is just plain misleading. There maybe. It will be OK if the horse was suitable for human consumption (although the mislabeling is an issue), but what if the meat was not even fit for animal food. There is no trail.

Also of concern, although it doesn't affect me, is the pig DNA in some of the burgers. I cant see the Jews and Muslims being to happy about that.

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Voulvoir says...
1:34pm Wed 23 Jan 13

Short answer is 'Don't eat processed meat' It's not cheap for no reason.

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Wispy Wonder says...
2:03pm Wed 23 Jan 13

Horse meat is the last thing to worry about with cheap burgers - they contain far worse other ingredients.

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Margaret Smith says...
2:15pm Wed 23 Jan 13

i stopped eating Horse meat years ago, but i am changing to meat balls, i am told the Tesco value range are.. The Dogs Bull...s

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mouthalmighty says...
2:41pm Wed 23 Jan 13

I am not against different species of meat being eaten by human. That is if an informed choice has been made. But to be told midd way through a meal, the truth, is sick making. And surely against the law.

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the wall says...
3:21pm Wed 23 Jan 13

bnorther wrote:
To me the issue isn't the horse meat. I've had horse meat in the past, albeit many years ago, in Belgium. It was lovely!

The news story here is that there is meat that is of unknown source. The horse may have been diseased or inhumanly killed etc.

Until we know where it all came from, for Ministers et. al. to say there is no heath risk is just plain misleading. There maybe. It will be OK if the horse was suitable for human consumption (although the mislabeling is an issue), but what if the meat was not even fit for animal food. There is no trail.

Also of concern, although it doesn't affect me, is the pig DNA in some of the burgers. I cant see the Jews and Muslims being to happy about that.
All the Jews I have known have bought their meat from kosher butchers.

Likewise with Muslims from halal shops.

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Mangetout says...
3:54pm Wed 23 Jan 13

I have no problem eating horse meat but it should be labelled as such. What shocked me was that was any meat at all in the econo burgers!

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the wall says...
4:42pm Wed 23 Jan 13

Personally, I think people who don’t like eating horse meat are being a bit blinkered.

I used to work on the Tesco meat counter, but it was like flogging a dead horse.

Now Tescos are giving treble points on your Clubcard for all burgers and petrol, starting today. The deal’s called Only Fuel and Horses.

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Inspirationalady28 says...
5:13pm Wed 23 Jan 13

Looks like it's been going on for Donkey's years!!

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Gypo.Joe says...
5:42pm Wed 23 Jan 13

I'm going to ask my best friend ( BFF) if she could perhaps write a poem on this subject. I'm going to e mail her right now.

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Inspirationalady28 says...
9:10pm Wed 23 Jan 13

Last night I had this horrible dream
And in it I was a horse 
29% of me in seeded buns
With fried onions and tomato sauce.

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nearly right all the time says...
9:54pm Wed 23 Jan 13

pigs, cow, horse, goat,

they dont know if they are Kosher,
Halal, all they know is they are dead!

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mainman says...
11:13pm Wed 23 Jan 13

Andrew obviosly doesnt know the appauling conditions horses in other countries are kept. even more aplling conditions dogs and cats are kept in korea,and they think beating the animal makes it taste better! make sure you know where the animal comes from first or better still ,dont eat the animal in the 1st place. andrew is just taking the ****, as is others on this blog.It is not a joke. whats next monkey meat

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Inspirationalady28 says...
11:28pm Wed 23 Jan 13

I'm an animal lover and a vegetarian. I hate any kind of animal cruelty whether they are domesticated or wild. Animals feel pain too. Cruelty to animals must stop!!

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Gypo.Joe says...
11:05am Thu 24 Jan 13

Inspirationalady28 wrote:
Last night I had this horrible dream
And in it I was a horse 
29% of me in seeded buns
With fried onions and tomato sauce.
Sorry but please don't give up ya day job !
Keep trying though.

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bnorther says...
12:58pm Thu 24 Jan 13

Anagram of HAMBURGERS is SHERGAR BUM!

I ordered my burgers from Tesco for 12:30 delivery. They came in at 20 to 1.

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hereallweek says...
2:11pm Thu 24 Jan 13

The material containing Horse DNA came from ingredients made from rind and other matter from horses and Cows, basically the stuff you probably wouldn't eat, the eyes, ears etc. It certainly isn't made from prime cuts of either animal, it is what would be ‘waste’. This meat 'product’ is processed into granular form and added to meat to help ingredients bind with fat and water to bulk out the product because they are to be made into products containing less meat, in the case of these cheap burgers, 65% was ‘beef’ of some form and the remaining 35% mostly made up of the granule additive. This additive is referred to as 'seasoning' on the ingredients label and it is perfectly legal for it to be labelled as such. I can’t be the first to always assume ‘seasoning’ meant salt, pepper or some herbs.

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nearly right all the time says...
4:14pm Thu 24 Jan 13

Final word

you get what you pay for!

cheap price, cheap product!

you do not have to be Brian Cox
to work that out

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Inspirationalady28 says...
9:52pm Thu 24 Jan 13

bnorther wrote:
Anagram of HAMBURGERS is SHERGAR BUM!

I ordered my burgers from Tesco for 12:30 delivery. They came in at 20 to 1.
What was it...buy1Get 20 FREE?!! Lol

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Tip-Top says...
8:16am Fri 25 Jan 13

I was sooooo hungry once that I could’ve eaten a horse….but I didn’t

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Gypo.Joe says...
11:59am Fri 25 Jan 13

I always wondered what was in them hors d'oeuvres, well now I know.

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forumuse says...
5:05pm Mon 28 Jan 13

I have eaten Alpaca, ostrich, Kangaroo, Buffalo, llama in the UK but whilst abroad
I have eaten guniea pig, Snake (very tough though) crocodile, zebra many different types of bird and have tried dog too! (Ate Chow in China)
All very palatable bar possibly the snake and bushmeat (Monkey) which is a rancid tasting affair
I have no problem eating cheval either (Showing my age there!) Ask your Grandparents and I bet they have all eaten horse.
Hell we used to catch hedgehogs and cover them in clay andf chuck them in the fire. After a while the clay is baked hard and the hedgehog is nicely roasted inside. All the spines are lost when the clay is cracked open.
It was the 40's afterall and food was scarce to say the least (Squirrel would have been eaten but they are very, very hard to catch)
All I know is if we experience a big food shortage I will be straight to Battersea to take some strays of their hands.
(I thought about eating cat but the buggers always scratched when being placed in the oven!)

The last two paragraphs were made in jest but everything beforehand is a true account of some of the animals I have eaten.

One thing I will not eat is seafood though, just cannot stomach whelks, cockles, crabs, lobster and the like.......Bizarre wouldnt you think when you take into account the unconventional (In this country) foods I have eaten

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