Do they eat horse meat in France? Yes, yes they do. It pains me to say that in all honestly, I’ve probably eaten horse before – but not knowingly. For me, a horse is a domesticated animal and not something I’d willingly consume. But the recent Findus scandal in France has me wondering about what’s really in the foods we eat…
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Do they eat horse meat in France?
You’ve probably heard about the Findus debacle that’s been all over the news as of late. The UK food giant is in hot water over some of their offerings which actually contained horse meat instead of beef. This all came to light after Irish food inspectors found horse meat in a bunch of “beef” burgers in UK grocery store chains. Digging deeper, horse meat was discovered in Findus products in France as well. In fact, their packaged lasagna in France apparently contained over 60 percent horse meat! Yikes!
In some countries, eating horse meat is totally normal and I even see it from time to time in French supermarkets right next to other meats.
But do they eat horse meat in France? Willingly? Yes.
Just the other day, I saw horse steaks right next to the beef and pork. It was a holiday offering, but still. It’s available and normal.
That said, I wouldn’t consider horse meat a mainstream dinner option in France for everyone. And most definitely not in the US. Horses are pets in American culture and are beautiful animals to be revered. Eating horse meat just doesn’t sit well with me and that’s likely to never change.
While we’ve been assured that the horse meat in the Findus scandal isn’t posing any health risks, that’s not the point. Consumers were duped into eating horse meat! Food labeling regulations require that a product’s label must be correct and NOT mislead the consumer.
So whether you’re into eating horse meat or not, the issue is that the consumer had no clue what they were actually eating. The scary part? Findus probably isn’t the only company that’s mislabeling their products.
So Findus, I hope you get your act together and work really hard to regain consumers’ trust. Without that, you have nothing. And right now things aren’t looking good… I’ll never buy anything from you again.
Tell me, would you eat horse? Have you already? Why/why not?
Photo credit: Gene Hunt / Foter.com / CC BY
Photo credit: Eduardo Amorim / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA
I’ve never knowingly eaten horse meat. I’m not adverse to the idea. It’s a cultural different. People all over the world eat all sorts of things and some I wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole. For me, the important thing is being informed. Be honest about what you’re putting on my plate and let me make the decision whether I want to consume it or not.
I agree w/your point. We need to be given all the facts to make an accurate choice. Hiding horse meat in beef is not giving the consumer all the facts. I’m sticking with food I buy at the marche! EEK
I love horse meat ! And I don’t understand the scandal because there are hidden things in food more dangerous than horse meat, I remember the time when someone put petrol in food : That is dangerous but horse meat is meat so it’s not that dangerous, those horses were raised for food like hundreds of chickens …
It’s not about it being dangerous, the issue is that the consumers weren’t correctly informed about what they were eating. Like Cosette’s comment before you said, the food companies have an obligation to accurately disclose what’s in their products and then we can decide if we want to eat it or not. I personally wouldn’t touch horse meat, but I’d want to have that choice that comes from a correctly labeled product. Thanks for commenting!
Traditional salami is quite often made from horse meat and most of us have eaten it even without thinking about it.
Oh absolutely, and I’m sure horse meat on its own tastes great! I just want to know if it’s being mislabeled as beef!
I have eaten horse meat before.
The problem isn’t just that it is horse meat. All meat for human consumption must be checked to see if it suitable for eating. The meat that has entered the food production market is not meat bred for consumption. The meat is of uncertain origin and may contain all sorts chemicals or bacteria that have not been checked.
I agree also with Diane. It is not that we should avoid eating it but that we know what we are eating and can make the choice. Horses are raised for the food market in France in the same was as cattle. These are not domestic animals that we are eating.
For me personally, all horses are domestic animals and I can’t get over that mind block and would never eat it knowingly. But all cultures are different. Let’s hope this is the last food scandal for a really long time. (I can hope, right??)
Horse meat is actually one of the “cleanest” as horses are strictly vegetarian. Other animals raised for meat production often receive a lot more supplements that end up in our bodies.
You’re probably right. 😉 I don’t doubt that horse meat is actually clean, tasty meat. I just personally don’t want to eat it — or have it hidden in my food!