Horsemeat - Again

[david63]

I have just had an email from Tesco ostensibly from Philip Clarke (Chief Executive) explaining the situation about horsemeat being found in some of their products and what actions they are taking. Nothing wrong with that but when I go down to the bottom it has the standard disclaimer message

Neither Tesco Stores Limited nor any company within the Tesco Plc Group accepts responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this email as it has been transmitted over a public network.

So does this mean that it may not be the correct version of events?

[Kendhni]

Or rather than horse meat it contains bull sh*t

[lioness]

Yes I got the same email. I do shop at Tesco, but I never buy meat there, either fresh or ready meals. Firstly, I don't buy ready meals, never have trusted what's in them. Secondly, my local butcher is just wonderful. Their meat comes from within 80 miles of here, most of it very local. Why oh Why do people buy these really cheap meals which have god knows what in them. OK, you're going to tell me because they are cheap. It's not expensive to buy some mince and make your own.

[Kendhni]

... but do you honestly know what is in the mince? It is not just ready meals that have been 'contaminated', there has been problems with 'butchered meats' as well.

[Mo2013]

Recently I had an extra guest for dinner. I was making lamb curry and had bought the meat from Tesco but needed to pop into my village to buy extra lamb. One lamb steak from the butcher cost me as much as the pack of 3 steaks I'd bought from Tesco. I was shocked. I think people buy ready meals because they are busy and tired and instead of standing in the kitchen chopping and preparing, they buy something which has been prepared for them. What people don't expect is that this ready meal is an inferior product to what they were expecting and to actually now be told that one has been paying for what one believes is beef but it is not is shocking. Supermarkets must take responsibility for what they are selling to trusting customers.

[Manoverboard]

... It's not expensive to buy some mince and make your own.

We do not buy ready made meals nor do we buy mince, far better to buy casserole steak and mince that yourself.

[Kendhni]

I am not convinced that the supermarkets have been aware of the problem therefore they have been selling products in good faith. Even some of the ready meal manufacturers probably were unaware of the issue ... the problem seems to have been further down the chain. What annoys me more than anything is that the whole concept of 'guaranteed BRITISH Beef' is nothing more than a joke ... it appears all that meant is that at some point it came through a British processing plant.

[Wobgoescruising]

People buy these cheap meals because for many of them they make sense. My mums nearly 84 and I always encourage her to buy them as I know that at least she is getting a warm, filling meal as she has no interest now in standing in a kitchen preparing a cooked meal for one - she'd probably make a sandwich and that's it.
Well known supermarkets take her money - she deserves to be given a quality product.

[Mo2013]

Quote "What annoys me more than anything is that the whole concept of 'guaranteed BRITISH Beef' is nothing more than a joke ... it appears all that meant is that at some point it came through a British processing plant."

That is something which should not be allowed because it is not quite true is it ?

Quote "People buy these cheap meals because for many of them they make sense. My mums nearly 84 and I always encourage her to buy them as I know that at least she is getting a warm, filling meal as she has no interest now in standing in a kitchen preparing a cooked meal for one - she'd probably make a sandwich and that's it. Well known supermarkets take her money - she deserves to be given a quality product."

My thoughts exactly.

[Manoverboard]

I think that everybody has the right to expect ' quality ' not just 84 year old Mothers although an 84 year old lady has probably eaten horse and whale meat in her time without any adverse affects whatsoever.

Ready meals for Mobietta and I when the time comes will not, ideally, be purchased from the likes of Tesco, Aldi, Adsa or the Co-op as they have clearly demonstrated that they cannot be trusted not to cut corners unlike Sainsbugs, Waitrose and M&S it would appear.

It is not therefore reasoanable I would suggest to tar them all with the same brush.

[Kendhni]

That is something which should not be allowed because it is not quite true is it ?

'I would go further and say it is a down right lie ... to me 'British beef' means the animal was born, reared, slaughtered, butchered and distributed within the UK ... not as it appears to mean, some random meat brought from some arbitrary european country and only minced in the UK.

[Manoverboard]

It is akin to what used to be called ' British Sherry ' ... there's no such thing in reality.

[Mo2013]

That is something which should not be allowed because it is not quite true is it ?

'I would go further and say it is a down right lie ... to me 'British beef' means the animal was born, reared, slaughtered, butchered and distributed within the UK ... not as it appears to mean, some random meat brought from some arbitrary european country and only minced in the UK.

Exactly !!!

[Wobgoescruising]

I think that everybody has the right to expect ' quality ' not just 84 year old Mothers although an 84 year old lady has probably eaten horse and whale meat in her time without any adverse affects whatsoever.

Ready meals for Mobietta and I when the time comes will not, ideally, be purchased from the likes of Tesco, Aldi, Adsa or the Co-op as they have clearly demonstrated that they cannot be trusted not to cut corners unlike Sainsbugs, Waitrose and M&S it would appear.

It is not therefore reasoanable I would suggest to tar them all with the same brush.

Luckily for Mum I drive her to Waitrose to stock up. In between shopping she has to do in our one local shop - Budgens. If that wasn't bad enough Tesco's have been granted permission to build on the outskirts. The council turned down the bid from Waitrose to build in the town centre. So, in a couple of years the small town centre will die and people who can't get out of town will be stuck with greedy Tesco's.

[Kendhni]

Ready meals for Mobietta and I when the time comes will not, ideally, be purchased from the likes of Tesco, Aldi, Adsa or the Co-op as they have clearly demonstrated that they cannot be trusted not to cut corners unlike Sainsbugs, Waitrose and M&S it would appear.

Is that the case .. or is it the case that they have not yet been caught?

[Manoverboard]

Ready meals for Mobietta and I when the time comes will not, ideally, be purchased from the likes of Tesco, Aldi, Adsa or the Co-op as they have clearly demonstrated that they cannot be trusted not to cut corners unlike Sainsbugs, Waitrose and M&S it would appear.

Is that the case .. or is it the case that they have not yet been caught?

I did post " ... it would appear " ... but we know first hand hand how two of the three are exceptionally fussy and thorough with their suppliers.

[Kendhni]

Very true ... but often they are the same suppliers for the others.

[lioness]

Yes, listening to one of the truck drivers, they said delivering to Morrisons was always more difficult as they were stricter! But it's still the same supplier from somewhere in Europe.

We have wonderful farms here in the UK, surely they can buy from here. But maybe not as cheaply

[Kendhni]

That is the problem lioness. People want top quality food but want to pay rock bottom price. This was tried a few years back when Brazilian beef came intot he UK at a much cheaper price than British beef could be sold at .. similarly New Zealand lamb, Danish bacon etc. Most shoppers when confronted with what they perceive to bbe identical products will select the cheapest.

[lioness]

Ken, it's a real shame. We have a wonderful butcher in our village and all the meat is local, so I always buy there. I use the supermarket other stuff but not meat and never buy ready meals.

[Serendipity]

We too are fortunate to have a good family butchers, I like to support local businesses where possible, maybe more people will do this now in view of what has being going on.

[Not so ancient mariner]

While there has undoubtedly been sharp practice and frank criminality involved in this scandal, the basic problem behind it is: Do we want to have food produced to a specification............or to a price?

[Dark Knight]

And just how dangerous is horsemeat??

probably better than beef and lamb full of red pigment and ham full of brine, meat is full of preservatives and chemiclas , so the horsemeat probably improves most of it

[Kendhni]

The horse meat itself is not the issue (it is perfectly edible), the two main issues are
1. the product was not beef (as advertised)
2. there was no traceability and quality control of the horsemeat ... and several samples have already shown the illegal use of growth hormones etc.

[Dark Knight]

Ken
I know that doh....