If you buy a hamburger that’s labeled “beef” you’d be right to expect that every part of the meat comes from cows.
But in supermarkets across Ireland and the UK, one-third of the “beef” products tested also had pig and horse DNA in them.
In theory, mixing beef with pig and horse meat isn’t unsafe, but it’s incredibly disturbing that three different animals were found in products from a facility that — in theory — only processes cow meat.
The sad thing is this isn’t an isolated incident. Ten years ago a news investigation found undeclared horse and donkey meat in one of every nine salamis, More recently, an animal welfare group found that under false paperwork, hundreds of unwanted horses were being sold into the food system.
Clearly, mixing meats behind closed doors isn’t going to stop unless officials take action. Tell the Food Standards Agency to enact harsh regulations to keep horse meat out of beef hamburgers.
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