Courtesy of Mish.
I don’t know about you, but I will no longer buy plastic tubes (that you cannot see through) supposedly containing ground chuck.
I tried tubes of beef twice, but the product certainly looked different and was ground much finer than beef that comes in a normal package, in which you can actually see the color and texture.
I would roughly describe the appearance of the product I bought as “compressed red paste”.
I bring this issue up because of a story from the UK about what has been found inside prepackaged “Everyday Value” frozen burgers.
Please consider Tesco’s U.K. Revival Hit as Horse DNA Found in Burgers.
Tesco Plc (TSCO)’s efforts to win back U.K. shoppers were dealt a blow after the discovery of horse DNA in some beef products caused the U.K.’s largest grocer to remove them from stores and prompted a barrage of negative publicity.
The burgers that were withdrawn from stores in the U.K. and Ireland were own-brand products, an area that Tesco has been focusing on as cash-strapped shoppers seek cheaper alternatives to big brands. Chief Executive Officer Philip Clarke last year rebooted the company’s cheapest own-label range, dubbing it Everyday Value, and promising a focus on quality. That’s part of his 1 billion-pound ($1.6 billion) investment program aimed at regaining customers as discounters such as Aldi and upscale chains like Waitrose erode its still-dominant market share.
The U.K.’s Food Standard Agency said it was investigating the contamination, including tracing the source of the horse and pig DNA and considering legal action. The agency will also start a U.K.-wide study of food authentiticity in processed meat products like burgers, according to the statement on its website.
Tesco withdrew two frozen beef burger products from stores following tests by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. The Irish body said yesterday that about 37 percent of the beef burger products it examined tested positive for horse DNA, while 85 percent showed pig DNA. They listed Tesco as one of the retailers that sold the products, along with Aldi, Lidl, Iceland Foods and Dublin-based Dunnes Stores.
One Tesco product contained 29 percent horsemeat relative to the beef content, according to the Irish safety authority, which said the levels in most samples it tested were “very low.”
Alan Reilly, chief executive of the Irish agency, said the beef doesn’t pose any public health concerns. There is no clear explanation for the presence of the horse DNA, he said.
No Clear Explanation?!
The CEO says there is no clear explanation. Really? Please be serious. The most likely explanation is someone (either Tesco or a Tesco supplier) used a blend of horse meat and beef because they thought they could get away with it. …
