The problems are compounding in Europe’s horsemeat scandal. Even as new information becomes known, the United States Department of Agriculture holds firm that our American store shelves have no mislabeled meat.
Agriculture officials stated that
While imported meat goes through a battery of tests, species tests are rarely conducted on labeled meat unless a problem is already suspected.
Over thirty years ago, a “contaminated” meat scandal did hit America. Back then, kangaroo meat and also horse meat were mixed in with beef meat. This mixture went into our grocery stores and the American food chain. The mislabeled meat had been shipped into the United States from Australia.
It is important to note that the USDA did not provide results of species testing since then (for 30 years). However, the officials from USDA did say,
The U.S. doesn't accept meat from the countries or companies involved in the European meat scandal.
In addition the officials hold firm that we have no problems since “there are currently no slaughterhouses processing both horses and cattle in the United States.”
However, there is some discussion about rethinking the species testing protocol.
The officials stated,
We do not analyze for other species and are assessing the current situation to determine if this is something we might do in the future.
To read a detailed result on this subject, click on the NBC story: Horse meat in the US? Unlikely, but tests are rare.
According to NBC, Eliza Technologies, Florida, sell tests that determine horse DNA in meat. It is the only company in the US that sells such a test. It has seen a dramatic spike in sales of the kit that run about $500. Per NBC, no kits or requests for kits to test for horse DNA were sold a month ago.
Source: Paulick Report
If you enjoyed this article, please click the link above to subscribe and get others. It’s free, informative and anonymous. Read my articles on Examiner.com and visit my website www.DressYourHorse.com.
Comments