General Chat

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21559451

Good old Germans and the German Evangelical church has solved the disposal of contaminated meat problem and hunger in one fell swoop :-D

Nice to see Cameron's not the only politician who regards 'The Poor' as so different to himself, they may as well be aliens. :-D

I found this rather ironic:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2283248/Bute-Drug-tainted-horse-meat-entered-food-chain-claims-France-revealed-contaminated-produce-served-Queen-Royal-Ascot.html

Well it's one clamour for "orf with their heads" and the other

"off with their benefits"

Personally I think it should be the only meat offered in Brussels and at the UN. Give the poor sirloin steak, they'll apreciate it much more than the rich :-P

I think it was a government minister rather than the evangelical church.
I don't have a problem with it - why throw decent food away? It is good healthy food so why not make it available to those that may not normally afford decent food.

Mainly because, as it shouldn't have been in the food chain, do we really know where it came from, and how contaminated with drugs it was?

For me it's not about what animal it came from but the traceability of the product,

I will and have eaten Horse meat and other meat from animals that are not normally on peoples menu

Roy

but it is and should be in the food chain - we are just about the only country in the world that does not regularly consume horsemeat.
Sinple tests, as already carried out, will reveal if it is contaminated with drugs

I have eaten it in Austria and Germany. It's a contaminant,in this case, untraceable, possibly Romanian horses that were sickly with gawd knows what, not passed by a vet at the abattoir. If you want that Errol go for it. I wouldn't touch it with a 30 foot pole.



The opposition has dismissed the idea as "absurd" and an insult to poor people, our correspondent adds, but Prelate Bernhard Felmberg, the senior representative of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), has backed the proposal.

"We as a Church find the throw-away mentality in our society concerning. How and whether to distribute the products in question would have to be examined," the priest said.

Errol, The traceability of the product cannot be assured using tests in the way as had been done, Because the product is not traceable then you would need to test every individual packet which is not practical or cost affective

Roy

What is a contaminant?

I see absolutely nothing wrong with making mislabelled food that would otherwise be thrown away, available to the less well off in society.

I am sure there must be some foods or liquids that you won't eat Errol. I would never dream of eating Horse meat, no matter who said it was ok to. Beef is Beef and Horse is Horse If it is ok to eat it why sell it as beef?

I also think it is a waste of food so maybe it should be relabelled as containing horse meat and sold to those who don't mind eating it.....but then again there is the bute problem. Maybe the heads of the countries who think it ok should have it on their menus.

What if the less well off don't want it anymore than the well off? .....sheesh.....that is soooooooo......what is the word?

Roy could that not be said of every single product on the market then?

Waste not want not.........BUT.....If it REALLY is harmless they should replace it with everything on the menu at the vastly subsidised House Of Commons Restaurants...lets see how many of them take advantage .....I'm guessing not many.

A drug is a contaminant, Errol.
We don't know whether these horses had been given Antibiotics or Phenylbutazone, etc, as they weren't officially in the food chain.

We could put this a different way.
You go out to buy a washing machine.
A dishwasher is delivered.
Would you complain?
What would you think if the provider replied
'They both wash things - what are you compaining about?'

Yes, both beef and horsemeat are edible, but if I buy one, I want to be sure that's what I've bought.

The thing is it's not just mislabeled food, The meat in the product cannot be traced back to it's origin,

By testing they can test for most Drugs and other things that could affect how safe the meat is but these tests are only as good as the specimen provided for testing, and does not mean that all these products or individual packets are safe

They i doubt they will risk selling the products because their would be such an out cry if someone gets poisoned or dies

Roy

To me there is no difference between mouldy grain being sent to Africa because it's food. The fact that rich countries consider it waste but they are being humanitarian by gifting it is crass hypocrasy. This smacks of the same attitude.

Can someone please shove me off my high horse ;-)

Errol, Even fruit and veg are traceable to the farm and field they grew and any fertiliser used and if stored what chemicals where used when in storage and the soil is tested before planting and even the seed used to grow the fruit and veg are traceable in exactly the same way

Some supermarkets even name the farmer on their labels

You can buy some products at the cheaper end of the food chain that don't have the same level on traceability but not from a major supermarket

major supermarkets insist on farm assured produce and any farmer not registered with a farm assured produce number cannot supply them

That's for fruit and veg and I'm not totally sure about the full rules on meat products but i do no that the rules on meat products are more stringent

Roy

I won't Sue, cos I'm on mine :-D

If it isn't good enough for thieving politicians, it isn't good for those on a low income :-P

Roy, from what I understand, in this country, anyway, farmers have to keep vast records on what drugs have been given to their animals, and when.
These records then follow the animal to the slaughterhouse, where they should be checked.

Not sure what happens abroad, but we can only presume EU countries should do the same thing.