Northern Irelands Only Horse Slaughtering House Stops

“This might just be about the shortest post I have ever done, but it’s certainly one that’s made me the happiest, hence the slideshow of noble equines! Just a shame more can’t follow suit!! “Seriously, look at the beautiful, graceful equines below; then tell me why anyone; would want to eat one?? I’d bet every breed of horse below, has gone to a slaughterhouse, somewhere in the world; often looking as good as they do in the pictures! It’s not just the old & sick horses they slaughter, they want nice fit, healthy horses too!!”

Published on 14/04/2013 11:39

THE only approved horse–slaughtering house in Northern Ireland has stopped killing horses, the Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill has revealed.

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She explained that the Armagh plant asked the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to remove its authorisation and stopped killing horses at the end of January.

“There was one slaughter plant in County Armagh approved by the FSA for equine slaughter,” she explained.

“This establishment is also approved for the slaughter of cattle and sheep. It ceased slaughtering horses completely on 25th January 2013 and has asked the FSA to completely remove their authorisation to slaughter equines.”

She said this was the only establishment approved by the FSA to slaughter horses in Northern Ireland in recent times.

News Link:-http://www.londonderrysentinel.co.uk/news/business/local-businesses/ni-s-only-horse-slaughtering-house-stops-1-4974741

Part 2 of 2:Danger Drug In UK Horsemeat: Tests Reveal Health Hazard AFTER Meat Was Exported To Europe

“In my opinion, horses shouldn’t even be on any menu, to those that own horses as pleasure horses, they are our pets just as much as dogs or cats; therefore they should be given the same rights as pets….you wouldn’t eat your puppy or cat (unless you lived in Asia perhaps) Thank Christ I am vegetarian, virtually vegan! But if I did eat animals this would be something that would turn my stomach & make me go vegetarian…I couldn’t possibly eat any in case one of my friends is in it!!” 

‘Business as usual’ at plant watchdog said had been shut

A British factory accused of turning horses into burgers and kebabs continued to operate yesterday despite official claims it had been shut down.

The discovery concerning Farmbox Meats, based near Aberystwyth, was further evidence of the shambles surrounding the handling of the scandal.

Farmbox Meats Ltd business owner Dafydd Raw-Rees, pictured yesterday in Llandre near Aberystwyth, west Wales

On Tuesday, the Government’s Food Standards Agency announced that Farmbox Meats and a slaughterhouse in Yorkshire, which had allegedly supplied horse carcasses, had been closed.

The abattoir is owned and run by Peter Boddy of Todmorden, who has a licence to shoot and slaughter unwanted or injured racehorses.

The FSA issued a categorical statement, saying: ‘The FSA has suspended operations at both these plants.’ 
It went on to declare that it and the police had ‘detained all meat found and seized paperwork, including customer lists from the two companies’.

However, yesterday morning the owner of the Farmbox factory insisted it was ‘business as usual’ and accused the FSA of being ‘untruthful’. Staff wearing hair nets were busy de- boning and cutting horse carcasses ready for export to Belgium.

Outside the plant stood large blue crates of meat of unspecified origin, with no evidence of FSA officials or the police on the site. It is housed in an anonymous-looking white-walled concrete building down a narrow country lane in the Ceredigion hills.

The factory is owned by local businessman Dafydd Raw-Rees, 64, a former turkey farmer who is president-elect of the local golf club. He was arrested in 2002 over an alleged offence of supplying meat from illegally slaughtered livestock but was never charged.

The manager of the Farmbox plant, Colin Patterson, was tried at Swansea Crown Court and later acquitted.

In a separate case, his co-defendant Carmello Gale was in 2004 jailed for six months for running an illegal abattoir near Llandysul, West Wales.

Andrew Rhodes, director of operations at the FSA, said its raid on Tuesday established that ‘horse meat had been used as though it were beef in kebabs and burgers at that premises’.

But last night Mr Raw-Rees said that while the plant did handle horse carcasses, it did not process any meat and hadn’t passed it off as beef.

Denying he had been ordered to suspend production, Mr Raw-Rees said he had only begun de-boning horse meat supplied from Ireland three weeks ago.“Only 3 weeks ago, bit suspicious??”

‘It is taken from here to Belgium and I get paid for doing the cutting up,’ he said. ‘I don’t do kebab meat, minced meat or beef burgers. There is absolutely no cross contamination.’

Mr Raw-Rees claimed he had only had three deliveries of cattle from the Todmorden slaughterhouse. 

Locals described Mr Raw-Rees as a ‘colourful character’ who had told them work at the plant – which employs 14 people – had ‘taken off’ after it started handling horse meat.

Later the FSA said: ‘All meat on site was detained yesterday. This morning we confirmed in writing their licence to operate is suspended.’

Government accused of ‘catastrophic complacency’

Published on 14 Feb 2013

no description available

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Part 1 of 2:Danger Drug In UK Horsemeat: Tests Reveal Health Hazard AFTER Meat Was Exported To Europe

“Why in Gods name are we eating horses anyway? We raise more than enough animals that can suffer heinous living conditions, & an even worse death, not to mention the abuse many share…just to satisfy the human demand for meat…burgers, sausages etc. Why would anyone want to eat a horse or baby cows & lambs…it’s sickening!! If I wasn’t already vegetarian, almost vegan…the thought of eating something that could contain any amount of horse; would be enough to turn my stomach & make me vegetarian. There is no way my horses will ever go to slaughter as I ticked the “Not fit for human consumption” box on their passports.

• The horses were slaughtered in UK and tested for phenylbutazone, or bute
• It is an anti-inflammatory drug that can affect human health
• The meat has already hit Europe and has been eaten or processed

British horse meat contaminated with the danger drug bute has been exported to Europe and has already been eaten or added to processed food, the Daily Mail can reveal.

Details are due to be announced by ministers and the Food Standards Agency today.

The horses were slaughtered at an unnamed British abattoir in the last few weeks and the resulting meat was tested for the presence of the anti-inflammatory drug bute.

But the results of the tests only came back after the meat had been shipped to the Continent and eaten or added to processed food.

Tests have shown the drug bute is contained in horsemeat butchered in the UK and sent to be eaten and processed into food in Europe “What a disgusting filthy yard, the hay looks mouldy…those poor ponies!”

It is not known whether any resulting processed food came back to the UK in ready meals such as lasagne or spaghetti bolognese.

The revelation came as Environment Secretary Owen Paterson signalled more raids could be carried out on British firms suspected of selling contaminated meat in the coming days.

On Tuesday Food Standards Agency officials raided a Yorkshire slaughterhouse and a Welsh factory which it claimed was passing off horse meat as beef.

But the bute scare points to a serious loophole in the food protection regime for consumers, which has been highlighted by Labour’s environment spokesman Mary Creagh.

The FSA announced last week that it would be moving to close this loophole with a new regime for horse meat.

This new system, which only came into effect days ago, is meant to ensure that no carcass is allowed to be sold for food until the bute test results have come back as negative.

The Peter Boddy slaughterhouse in Todmorden, Yorkshire, which was raided yesterday as part of the police inquiry into the sale of horsemeat being sold as beef

While the presence of bute – phenylbutazone – is a concern, the amounts that appear in horse meat would be extremely small and unlikely to cause any ill effects. “If unchipped horses passports are being swapped around, (as they were with the previous post of the cob swapped, for another horse much bigger to go to slaughter)… nobody can tell how much bute was given to that horse; apart from the owner! I have given my horses bute & not just on a vets prescription. I think most horse owners who know what they are doing, have some bute around, just in case a horse bruises a sole, or has arthritis & seems a bit stiff. 

It is known to be able to induce blood disorders, including aplastic anaemia, in which the bone marrow stops making enough red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. “Above they say it isn’t a big concern, but if a horses passport has been switched & the passport given to another horse, your not going to know how much bute was in that horse before it was slaughtered; bute is not a drug required to be registered on a horses passport!

Those with severe or very severe aplastic anaemia are at risk of life-threatening infections or bleeding. Bute is also known to cause cancer in rats, but there is no conclusive evidence for it to have the same effect in humans.

Miss Creagh said: ‘With every passing day this scandal seems to get wider.

‘I raised the problem of bute contaminated horse meat being released into the food chain with Defra [farming] ministers last month yet up until two days ago horses were still not being tested for bute and were being released for human consumption.

‘Parliamentary answers released this week show 9,405 horses were slaughtered in the UK for human consumption abroad last year. We must make sure horse meat is not contaminated with bute.’ “You must make sure that the horse has the correct passport too!

Markings on face to be recorded in passport by vet

“Without all horses having to have microchips, I don’t know how they are going to tell without testing a sample from each horse that is slaughtered…imagine how much that is going to cost!” 

“Micro-chipping has been compulsory for foals in the Thoroughbred breeding industry since 1999. Then any equine foal born after 1 July 2009 had to be micro chipped under European-wide regulations.”

 “The regulations apply to foals of all equines —horses, ponies, donkeys, mules and so on.”

“For older horses, it wasn’t mandatory for them to be micro-chipped. 

(“See pictures attached as to how the vet would shade in areas on the passport, of the horses colours & markings, this would be in the passport for an older horse & one not mandatory to be microchipped “)

“The old style passport had an area at the back of the passport where there was an outlined picture of a horse showing the front, right & left side, back, legs, & face of a horse which had to be shaded by a vet to match the exact markings, colouring, even whorls (spiral patches of hair on a horse) & a detailed description given of that particular horse then signed by a vet as proof of identification. Unless your horse was valuable, people didn’t use to microchip until it came into force.”

A vet had to shade in all areas of horse markings & colours

Mr Paterson entered talks with EU ministers in Brussels to try to secure mandatory labelling of the ‘Country of Origin’ on all processed meat products, intelligence sharing between regulators, and spot checks on processors and retailers. “Sounds good, but how is that going help if they have a passport for the horse 

Workers handle meat at the Doly-Com abattoir, one of the two units implicated in the horse meat scandal. Romanian officials say the meat was properly declared and any fraud was committed elsewhere

After the meeting it was announced all member states should carry out 2,500 horse DNA tests on processed beef products and 4,000 bute tests on horse meat during March, and publish the results in mid-April.

Mr Paterson has put the blame for the food fraud scandal on retailers, saying: ‘People have got to trust what they buy and the ultimate link between the quality of the products and what is marked on the label has got to be the business selling the product.

‘If people are being sold a product that says processed beef and get a product that contains a significant amount of horse meat, that is a fraud.’

FSA officials said they were looking at trails – where the meat went – from five slaughterhouses in the UK that regularly process horses.

Mr Paterson said Tuesday’s raids were the result of information  passed to the Food Standards Agency after contamination was first detected in Ireland three weeks ago, and said the agency was doing ‘methodical, painstaking work … sifting through data’.

Tesco withdrew its everyday value spaghetti bolognese when it emerged that it contained horsemeat. The product was prepared in Europe

‘We saw vigorous action yesterday, and we may well see some more action over the course of the coming few days’, he said. ‘But it’s not very clever to give advance notice of what we are going to do in carrying out investigations that may lead to criminal prosecutions.’

However, he insisted processed meat on British supermarket shelves was safe to eat, and even said he would eat anything, including horse. ‘I’m relaxed about it’, he said. ‘ I’m omnivorous, I’ll eat anything.’

Mr Paterson said it was ‘too early to tell’ how many people may have eaten burgers and kebabs from the firms raided yesterday, or what chemicals could be in them.

Last week Mr Paterson described the scandal, then only linked to horse meat sent from Poland to Ireland, and from Romanian slaughterhouses to the French food company Comigel,  as an ‘international criminal conspiracy’.

Yesterday he said the premises raided in Britain were a separate issue.

A police community support officer stands guard at the gate of the Peter Boddy slaughterhouse

The FSA were ‘working through all those involved in the slaughter of horses … and that work is carrying on, they are looking through invoices and customers lists’, he said.

‘There will be further action, depending on their investigation,’ he said.

He added that when the investigation was over there were likely to be ‘lessons to be learned’, for the agency.

At Prime Minister’s question time, David Cameron said it was ‘appalling’ and ‘completely unacceptable’ that consumers were buying beef products that turned out to contain horse. ‘I do think that this is a serious issue.

People are genuinely worried about what they are buying at the supermarket and I really think we have got to get a grip,’ he said.

‘Retailers I think do bear a real responsibility here.

‘At the end of the day, it is they who are putting products on their shelves and have got to say that they are really clear about where that meat came from, what it was, who it was supplied by.  It is up to them to check that and I think that is vitally important.’

Yesterday a Dutch meat broker, Draap Trading Ltd, was named as a middleman in the horse meat scandal. The company bought some £45,000 of horse meat from a Romanian abattoir, some of which eventually ended up in Britain

News Link:- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2278342/Danger-drug-UK-horsemeat-Tests-reveal-health-hazard-AFTER-meat-exported-Europe.html#ixzz2Ku0BJdpW
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Findus Lasagna 60% to 100% Horsemeat, Find Prompts Call For Processed Beef Advice

“What a surprise…NOT…I wondered when other foods would start to show traces of horse meat; but to have some that are 100% horse meat is criminal. If I wasn’t already vegetarian, I think I would be after this…

People need to be told officially whether they should eat any processed beef foods in the wake of the discovery of horsemeat in Findus lasagne, the shadow environment secretary has said.

Shadow environment secretary Mary Creagh: “It’s not fair… that consumers are being kept in the dark”

Labour’s Mary Creagh accused ministers of “pretending this isn’t happening”.

The government said it was working with businesses to enforce regulations.

The Food Standards Agency has ordered UK retailers to test all processed beef products. Findus has withdrawn its lasagne from sale.

It is the latest company to be caught up in the controversy surrounding contamination of meat products, which has affected companies in the UK, Irish Republic, Poland and France.

Last month, Irish food inspectors announced they had found horsemeat in some burgers stocked by a number of UK supermarket chains, including Tesco, Iceland and Lidl.

Findus Beef Lasagne Meals 100% Horsemeat

Published on 8 Feb 2013

Findus not 100% sure whats in there meals

‘Criminality or negligence’

Ms Creagh expressed fears that there were further revelations to come from the food industry.

“What we have had over the last four weeks is a constant drip, drip, drip of revelations from the food industry, from the Food Standards Agency, and what I am worried about is that the more they are testing for horse, the more they are finding,” she said.

She suggested official guidance was needed on whether people should eat other processed foods labelled as containing beef.

“I certainly wouldn’t, but I’m waiting for the government, the experts, the scientists, to tell us and issue proper clear advice for consumers,” she said.

“It’s simply not good enough for ministers to sit at their desks and pretend this isn’t happening.”

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson called the Findus discovery “completely unacceptable” and said the presence of unauthorised ingredients in foods “cannot be tolerated”.

Mr Paterson said the government was working closely with businesses to “root out any illegal activity” and enforce regulations.

“Consumers can be confident that we will take whatever action we consider necessary if we discover evidence of criminality or negligence,” he said.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said it was “highly likely” criminal activity was to blame for the contamination.

Chief executive Catherine Brown told the BBC: “I have to say that the two cases of gross contamination that we see here indicates that it is highly likely there has been criminal and fraudulent activity involved.

“We are demanding that food businesses conduct authenticity tests on all beef products, such as beef burgers, meatballs and lasagne, and provide the results to the FSA. The tests will be for the presence of significant levels of horsemeat.”

The agency has asked for test results by next Friday.

Police in the UK and Europe were involved in the investigations into the contaminated products, the FSA said.

It added: “People have been asking whether it is safe to eat any frozen meat products at the moment.

“There is no reason to suspect that there’s any health issue with frozen food in general, and we wouldn’t advise people to stop eating it.”

Beef Lasagne Meals 100% Horsemeat

Published on 7 Feb 2013

Findus Beef Lasagne Meals 100% Horsemeat
Shoppers who have bought the ready meals have been advised not to eat them and to return them to the shops.
9:51pm UK, Thursday 07 February 2013
Findus.

Apology

The FSA said there was no evidence of a health risk from the contaminated lasagne, but has also ordered Findus to test the products for the veterinary drug phenylbutazone, or “bute”.

“Animals treated with phenylbutazone are not allowed to enter the food chain as [the drug] may pose a risk to human health,” it said.

Findus

We understand this is a very sensitive subject for consumers”

Findus’s affected products were made by a third-party French supplier, Comigel, which had alerted the company to concerns that the beef lasagne product did not “conform to specification”.

The FSA said Findus had tested 18 of its beef lasagne products and found 11 meals containing between 60% and 100% horsemeat.

Findus had withdrawn its beef lasagne in 320g, 360g and 500g sizes as a precaution on Monday.

The company said: “We understand this is a very sensitive subject for consumers and we would like to reassure you we have reacted immediately. We do not believe this to be a food safety issue.

“We are confident that we have fully resolved this supply chain issue. We would like to take this opportunity to apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused.”

It said all its other products had been tested and were not affected.

A statement from the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) said it “deplores the latest reported incidents of gross contamination of some processed meat products“.

“The BMPA has urged its members to be vigilant, and to review their raw material and ingredients-sourcing procedures in order to ensure that they meet their responsibilities to produce safe food and to describe and label their products accurately.”

Supermarket chains Tesco and Aldi have also withdrawn some beef products

Earlier this week, Comigel had advised Findus and Aldi to withdraw Findus Beef Lasagne and Aldi’s Today’s Special Frozen Beef Lasagne and Today’s Special Frozen Spaghetti Bolognese.

An Aldi spokesman said its products had been withdrawn immediately and the retailer was carrying out its own investigations.

“The products will remain withdrawn from sale until we are confident that the meat content complies with the specification presented to us,” he said, adding that customers could claim refunds by returning packaged products.

Tesco also decided to withdraw Everyday Value Spaghetti Bolognese.

The Tesco product was produced at the same Comigel site but there was no evidence of contamination, the supermarket said.

• ‘I didn’t see or handle horsemeat’
• Supermarkets withdraw beef products
• Q&A: Meat contamination

News Link:-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21377601

VERY GRAPHIC IMAGES,VIDEO:Exposed: How terrified horses were beaten and abused by sick slaughtermen

“As a horse owner I don’t think I have to say much; this is very distressing for me to post! However, people need to know, believe me, I’m writing this through tears…but the public have to know what happens in these horrific kill places. I have said before & will say again, if captive bolt guns are used, they are inadequate at making equine’s unconscious  The bolt gun was meant for & is used for bovine’s…a horses skull & brain is set further back; therefore the bolt gun does not have the same effect it does on bovine’s..which means the horse regains consciousness very quickly.!”

“It is also not just the old, sick retired that end up at these evil places…kill buyers look for horses that are healthy & have a good weight on them, those are the horses they get most money per pound for! In all my years of owning horses I have never once sent or let any of my horses go to an auction house; because that is where kill buyers lurk. Being disabled from a riding accident obviously means I can’t ride, & lately not even see my horses, due to pain (they are well cared for & spoilt at a livery yard). But hell will freeze over before I let them go to auction…if you truly love your horse or any animal, you don’t let them go to places like this! When the time comes that my horse has to go, I will move mountains & get there somehow! My face will be the last thing she see’s, my voice the last thing she hears; before crossing Rainbow Bridge!”

One horrific image shows a distressed horse come round from being stunned only to find itself hanged upside down ready to be bled

horse wakes up after being stunned

Two slaughtermen have been sacked after shocking footage exposed horses being abused at an abattoir.

The video nasty caught by hidden cameras shows the animals being beaten with a metal rod and crammed into pens together before being slaughtered.

One horrific image shows a distressed horse appearing to come round from being stunned only to find itself hanged upside down ready to be bled.

Ex-Chief Veterinary Officer Keith Meldrum described it as “completely unacceptable.”

The cruelty was filmed at Red Lion Abattoir, near Nantwich, Cheshire, during a Sky News investigation prompted by concerns raised by animal welfare campaign group Hillside.

Some horses were crammed into slaughter pens in pairs and at one point in a group of three before being stunned together.

Experts said this was against the law.

Hanging on: Horse tries to wriggle free

Under The Welfare of Animals Act 1995, horses cannot be slaughtered in sight of any other horse because it causes them severe distress.

Separately, some injured or sick horses appeared to be left by staff to suffer overnight, rather than being put down immediately.

Last night the Food Standards Agency said it revoked the licences of two slaughtermen after a probe into the video.

FSA head of approvals Craig Kirby said: “As soon as we got the footage and reviewed it we took immediate action to revoke the slaughtermen’s licences.

“That means they cannot work to slaughter animals again. “We will also look to gather further evidence to see if we can prosecute.”

Mr Meldrum yesterday described his shock at what he described as “appalling” animal welfare breaches. He said: “We see three animals stunned at the same time and it is totally illegal and contrary to welfare slaughter regulations.

It’s a significant welfare problem for a number of reasons. It’s harder to render them unconscious in a group and they have a higher chance of regaining consciousness before you’ve completed the procedure.”

The number of horses being slaughtered in the UK has more than doubled in the past five years. FSA figures show 8,426 were put down in 2012, compared to 3,859 in 2007. Horses are sent to the abattoir when they are old, sick, injured or retired.

The shocking footage, to be shown on Sky News today, comes just days after it emerged horse meat had been found in beefburgers being sold across the UK.

Roly Owers, head of World Horse Welfare, said: “The breaches, from what we’ve seen, are throughout – from the care of the animals to the slaughter process.

“Horses are intelligent animals. When they see an animal stunned in front of them, you can only imagine the distress that animal is going through. “There are, without doubt, welfare issues here. It is plain illegal.”

John Watson, of Hillside, said: “It blows away the myth of humane slaughter. There is a misery in that place that is palpable.”

In response, a Red Lion spokesman said: “The incidents, whilst captured on limited filming are not the norm but that of an isolated nature.

“The management view animal welfare and public health with paramount importance.

“Decisive disciplinary action has been taken.”

News Link:-http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/terrified-horses-beaten-and-killed-by-sick-1544633

Footage shows stunned horse waking up just before it is about to have its throat cut

Published on 19 Jan 2013

Horse Abattoir Film Reveals Cruelty & Animal Welfare Breaches in UK – 19 January 2013

Slaughtermen have their licence revoked after campaigners’ secret film exposes breaches of the Animal Welfare Act

Sky News has uncovered shocking animal welfare conditions at a UK horse abattoir.

They include animals being beaten, neglected and illegal procedures in the process of slaughtering British horses destined for European food markets.

It comes amid public anger that some of our biggest supermarkets have been selling beef burgers and other products that contained horse meat

Red Lion Abattoir near Nantwich in Cheshire

Horse meat could have been used in beefburgers for years and was detected in chorizo a decade ago

• The Food Standards Agency does not test products for horse meat because it does not pose a risk to public health
• But the FSA found equine DNA in three out of 24 chorizo and pastrami products sold in 2003  
• Scientists demand regular tests for meat products in supermarkets
• Sainsbury’s, Asda and Co-op have removed burgers as a precaution
• Fast food chain Burger King also drawn into the row
• Tesco has paid for full page apology in national newspapers today
• Government tells Commons there could be prosecutions over issue
• Food charity angry that 10million contaminated burgers will be binned, saying they should be handed for free instead

Horse meat could have been in beefburgers for many years because of gaping holes in British food regulations, it emerged today.

The Food Standards Agency is under fire after it admitted testing is not routinely carried out because products laced with horse do not pose a risk to public health.

This is despite FSA scientists finding equine DNA in products sold in three out of 24 chorizo and pastrami products imported from Belgium and Italy and sold in Safeway in 2003.

There are now demands for products to be routinely analysed to ensure UK consumers know exactly what they are eating.

Tim Lang, a professor of food policy at City University in London said: ‘It could have been going on for years but we wouldn’t know about it because we have never conducted tests.

‘For too long we have had light-touch regulation. The Food Standards Agency has to be institutionalised into.

Government Food Minister David Heath said today he backed the FSA’s regime.

‘The FSA carries out its duties in a responsible and professional way. They do take a risk-based approach to testing based on intelligence and I think they are right to do so because that is the way they get the most effective response,’ he told the Commons.

Two studies carried out in 2003 found evidence of imported processed meat containing traces of horse meat.

The first by local authorities in Hull, Durham, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire found three out of 24 salamis contained horse meat. These gourmet products were imported from France and Belgium. Two products were found on sale at a branch of Safeway in Durham, and the other at a Leeds wholesaler.

A second larger research project by the Food Standards Agency found imported chorizo contained traces of horse meat.

Ten million beefburgers are being recalled in the scandal over horse meat contamination as more supermarkets and fast food chain Burger King were drawn into the row.

ABP, which is awaiting results of secondary testing ordered by the Department of Agriculture in Ireland due this evening, said it wants the food binned.

‘We have recommended that the withdrawn product is destroyed,’ the company said.

‘We do not have monetary figures for the product we have recommended be withdrawn, but can confirm it would total around 10 million burgers.’

The FSA has admitted that it is considering taking legal action against companies at the centre of the scandal.

The firms acted because the products were made by an Irish food giant which is known to have been supplying burgers contaminated with horse meat, with some at Tesco containing up to 29 per cent equine DNA.

Tesco has today placed full-page adverts in a number of national newspapers apologising to customers for selling beef burgers containing horse meat.

The supermarket giant has lost £300million off its market value in the last day.

Sorry: Tesco has taken out full page adverts in national newspapers apologising for the ‘unacceptable’ horse meat scandal that has rocked the company

 It has also promised to refund customers who bought the contaminated products, identified as Tesco Everyday Value 8 x Frozen Beef Burgers (397g), Tesco 4 x Frozen Beef Quarter Pounders (454g), and a branded product, Flamehouse Frozen Chargrilled Quarter Pounders.

The alert was first raised by Irish food watchdogs earlier this week after horse DNA was found in burgers sold through Tesco, Iceland, Aldi, Lidl and Dunnes in Ireland.

It subsequently emerged that burgers from the same batches were sold in the British outlets of both Tesco and Iceland. The beef content in one Everyday Value burger sold by Tesco was actually 29 per cent horse meat.
The tests were carried out in November but the results were not released until they had been checked by experts in Germany. It is likely that many thousands of the burgers contaminated with horse meat have been eaten by families.Investigations are focussing on the role of Irish food company, ABP, which is run by controversial entrepreneur Larry Goodman.ABP owns Silvercrest Foods, which supplied burgers containing horse meat to Tesco and Aldi. It also makes cheap burgers for Asda, Co-op and Burger King.

ABP also owns Dalepak, which is based in North Yorkshire and made suspect burgers for Iceland. It also produces 13 lines for Sainsbury’s.

Yesterday, ABP pointed the finger at a mystery ingredient used in the burgers – thought to be a protein powder – supplied by two foreign firms, one in the Netherlands and another in Spain.

The powder – used to bulk up cheap burgers – is supposed to be created from rendered down carcasses of beef animals.

The episode lifts the lid on some of the more distasteful elements and ingredients used to produce cheap food for families on a budget. 

Professor Chris Elliott, director of the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University, Belfast said: ‘What goes into a burger is all the low quality cuts of meat that can’t be sold in any other form. They are at the bottom of the chain.’

The FSA will look at launching legal action with breaches of food labelling rules bringing fines up to £20,000 and a prison term of up to two years.

HORSE MEAT BURGER FIND COULD SPARK PROSECUTIONS

Criminal prosecutions could be brought following the discovery of horse meat in some supermarket beefburgers, the Government said today.

Environment minister David Heath (above right) said standards were generally very high in the British food industry and backed the Food Standards Agency’s risk-based checking system.

Answering an urgent question from Labour’s shadow environment secretary Mary Creagh in the Commons, Mr Heath acknowledged the seriousness of the discovery.

He said: ‘It is very important neither you, nor anyone else in this House, talks down the British food industry at a time when the standards in that industry are of a very high level.

‘Because something has been discovered in Ireland, which is serious, which may lead to criminal proceedings, does not undermine the very serious efforts which are taken by retailers, by processors and by producers in this country to ensure traceability and ensure standards of food that are available to consumers.’

Raising her urgent question, Ms Creagh said: ‘Consumers who avoid pork for religious reasons will be upset they may have unwittingly eaten it and eating horse is strongly culturally taboo in the United Kingdom.

‘It’s not illegal to sell horse meat but it is illegal not to label it correctly.

‘The food industry lobbies vigorously for a light-touch regulation system from Government. Testing, tracking and tracing ingredients is expensive but not testing will cost retailers, processors, British farmers and consumers much more.’

Same supplier: Fast food giant Burger King was drawn into the row today as it uses the same supplier as supermarkets where burgers were found to contain horse meat

 Tesco had no idea about the contamination and has apologised. Its group technical director, Tim Smith, said: ‘Our customers have the right to expect that food they buy is produced to the highest standards.’

Asda, Sainsbury’s and the Co-op all insisted there was no evidence their burgers contain horse meat. However, they decided to withdraw them because they come from firms  which are known to have had this problem

Sainsbury’s said: ‘Although our products have not been implicated, as our customers would expect we treat matters like this extremely seriously.’ Asda said: ‘As soon as we were made aware of the issue we launched a full traceability audit with our supplier.’

Co-op said it was removing two lines of frozen own-brand burgers while tests are carried out ‘to ensure they have been produced to our strict specifications’.

Burger King said it has been given ‘absolute assurance’ by ABP and Silvercrest that none of its burgers were affected. It said its burgers are produced with clean ingredients on a separate production line.

DESTRUCTION OF 10M BURGERS IS WRONG – FOOD CHARITY

The destruction of up to 10 million burgers suspected of containing some levels of horse DNA is morally and ethically wrong, a charity has said.

The UK’s Food Ethics Council said any meat fit for human consumption could be offered to consumers for free.

Dan Crossley, chief executive of the charity, said: ‘It’s wrong to assume straight away that food that is apparently fit for human consumption should go to landfill – if it can be shown to be safe to eat.

‘From a moral and ethical perspective, the amount of food we throw away is nothing short of scandalous, particularly in a world where a billion people are going hungry.

‘We must learn to value the food we eat.’

One of Europe’s biggest suppliers and processors, the ABP Food Group, is among two firms being investigated by health and agriculture authorities in the UK and Ireland over the controversy.

The company said it has recommended destroying up to 10 million frozen burgers which have been withdrawn from shops.

‘Some people will have reservations about eating that meat as there’s the potential to have horse meat in it,’ Mr Crossley said.

‘If the decision was made that it could not be sold through normal channels, they could look at other options like giving it free to people if they wanted it.‘

To read the rest of this news post click here:– http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2263822/Horse-meat-used-beefburgers-years-detected-chorizo-years-ago.html

WARNING GRAPHIC VIDEO (Click to watch) – The Humane Slaughter Myth

“Firstly let me just say the video is not on auto play, to watch it you must click play”

“I’m disgusted at the way these workers treat these sentient beings…To make the slaughter process better, people have to join together TO WANT to make changes. I don’t eat meat but for those that do, I’m sure you too would prefer the animal to have been properly stunned & slaughtered. What you see in the video is blatant abuse, the workers enjoy inflicting pain on the animals, it must make them feel more manly…FFS…I wish they would also only have one animal at a time in the stun room, the other poor animals have to watch, not nice is it? Lets make some changes, stand up & be heard, sign the petition below”.

SLAUGHTER CAMPAIGN ACHIEVEMENTS

Our call for CCTV to be installed in all UK slaughterhouses is endorsed by the Chief Executive of the industry’s regulator, the Food Standards Agency, and by the RSPCA, Compassion in World Farming and the Soil Association.

Although the government has been reluctant to encourage slaughterhouses to install CCTV, ten supermarkets – Morrisons, Waitrose, the Co-op, Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Tesco, Lidl, Asda, Marks & Spencer and Iceland – along with wholesalers Booker, have now agreed to deal only with slaughterhouses that have independently monitored CCTV cameras installed. We are now working with the supermarket chains to ensure that the CCTV footage is monitored properly and that incidents of law-breaking are dealt with effectively.

One slaughterhouse – A&G Barber – has closed permanently as a result of our exposé, and legal action was started against nine workers and four slaughterhouse operators. But, in September 2010, DEFRA decided to drop all these cases, offering no convincing explanation for its decision. Animal Aid embarked on a long battle to reverse this decision to bring the abusers to justice, which culminated in two men being jailed for burning pigs with cigarettes and beating them with excessive force and frequency.

Bristol University is using our footage to train vets and Soil Association inspectors. The industry, government agencies and veterinary bodies are now taking part in ongoing discussions about how to implement changes and bring about improvements in animal welfare in slaughterhouses.

Most importantly, perhaps, the horror of slaughter has been brought to the public’s attention through our footage and through articles in the print media and on television. Many people have seen the reality and chosen to adopt a meat-free diet as a result.

Published on 15 Nov 2012 by AnimalAid

Animal Aid started to film secretly inside Britain’s slaughterhouses in January 2009. To date, we have filmed inside nine randomly chosen slaughterhouses and found evidence of cruelty and lawbreaking in eight of them.

The problems are serious and widespread. Our films reveal animals being kicked, slapped, stamped on, and picked up by fleeces and ears and thrown into stunning pens. We recorded animals being improperly stunned and going to the knife while still conscious. Even where no laws were broken, animals still suffered pain and fear.

And ‘high welfare’ plants, such as those accredited by the Soil Association, were no better than the non-organic ones. Animal Aid believes that whether ‘conventional’, organic, kosher or halal, all slaughter is unnecessary and immoral, and the only way to prevent such suffering is to choose a meat-free diet.

We are calling for CCTV to be installed in all UK slaughterhouses and for the footage to be made available to independent parties outside of the slaughterhouse. We also want better independent training, regular retraining and assessment, rigorous enforcement of the laws. We also believe that people with outstanding convictions for violence or animal cruelty working should fail the ‘fit and proper person’ test and should not be issued a slaughter licence. Finally, we want people to see the shocking truth from inside UK slaughterhouses and choose a humane diet.

CCTV In Slaughter Houses

The welfare of animals at slaughter is a devolved issue, so we are lobbying each of the four GB countries to introduce a new regulation under section 12 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (England and Wales); Section 26 of the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006; and Section 11 of the Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 2011.

When the government refused to act, Animal Aid and our supporters lobbied the supermarkets to insist on CCTV in all their slaughterhouse suppliers. The ten largest, along with wholesalers Booker, agreed, and committed to having CCTV installed by the end of 2011.

This means we have a voluntary scheme in which an estimated 80 per cent of slaughterhouses are covered. But it is only a voluntary scheme, and in order to ensure that supermarkets and slaughterhouses do not have a change of heart, CCTV must be installed in all slaughterhouses.

Animal Aid continues to work with politicians and officials in all four GB countries and is encouraged to see progress. But there is still a long way to go.

Find out more about our campaign and the progress made:http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/CAMPAIGNS/slaughter/ALL///

Animal Aid – I want to help!

1. Order campaign postcards to send to the English, Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish Agriculture Ministers, and to your MP
2. Sign our petition
3. Read our CCTV briefing sheet, download it and send it to your MP.
4. Write a letter to your local paper about this campaign. See a sample letter that you can adapt.
5. Tell the world on Twitter, Facebook and other social media
6. Make a donation to help Animal Aid achieve this historic goal.

Get Off The Meat Wagon

The Meat Wagon is an ambulance that has been converted to show films about animal farming and slaughter, and to promote a healthy, humane and planet-friendly diet.

It will be touring the country this summer and coming to a town near you.

Meat Wagon Link:- http://www.meatwagon.org.uk/

Think going organic lets you eat meat with a clear conscience? This shocking investigation into a ‘humane’ slaughterhouse will make you think again….

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1242503/Think-going-organic-lets-eat-meat-clear-conscience-This-shocking-investigation-humane-slaughterhouse-make-think-again.html#ixzz2COlhVlCN

British Muslims defend Halal slaughter after calls for ban

Muslims believe the halal slaughter method ensures the least amount of pain possible for an animal and is in accordance with animal welfare measures. (File photo)

Muslims in Britain have rebuffed calls to ban animals’ halal slaughter after a leading British vet this week called for curbing or even banning the practice popular among the country’s Muslim and Jewish minorities.

Professor Bill Reilly, former president of the British Veterinary Association, called for curbing the practice of slaughtering animals without stunning.

“Non-stun slaughter… appears to be increasing. From an animal welfare perspective this cannot be acceptable,” Reilly said.

“However, we are fortunate to live in a tolerant society and respect the religious beliefs of different faiths and must reconcile animal welfare with religious freedom.

 “In my view, the current situation is not acceptable and, if we cannot eliminate non-stunning we need to keep it to the minimum,” he added.

“This means restricting the use of Halal and Kosher meat to those communities that require it for their religious beliefs and, where possible, convincing them of the acceptability of the stunned alternatives.”

Reilly’s opinion was published recently in the journal Veterinary Record, On Islam website reported on Saturday.

But his comments have been met by criticism from Muslims in the country.

“We believe this is a requirement. [Halal] slaughter is quick, so pain is minimized and there is no unnecessary suffering,” Saleem Kidwai, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Wales, told Wales Online.

“We believe it should continue,” Kidwai added.

British ministers have sought to change a law to ensure that meat slaughtered using Islamic (halal) methods cannot be sold without proper labeling.

The Daily Mail reported in April that “unwitting members of the public” in Britain are being served halal meat “secretly” in schools, hospitals, pubs and famous sporting venues, claiming that many in Britain, including animal rights campaigners, deem the traditional Islamic way of preparing meat as “cruel.” 

Like Jewish kosher slaughter, the halal – meaning permissible in Arabic – method requires the butcher to kill the animal by slitting its throat, ensuring the animal is not stunned first to lessen its ordeal.

Some Muslims say that the halal method ensures the least amount of pain possible for an animal and is in accordance with animal welfare measures.

Halal meat now accounts for 25 percent of the entire UK meat market, according to Reilly. But his figures have been challenged by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) which put the number of slaughtered halal animals at much smaller percentage.

“The results indicate that the number of animals not stunned prior to slaughter is relatively low, accounting for 3 percent of cattle, 10 percent of sheep and goats, and 4 percent of poultry,” an FSA spokesman told BBC.

Meanwhile, the UK government is now drawing up plans to prevent the supply of halal meat to people who are not aware about the method their meat has been slaughtered in, the Daily Mail reported.

The current laws in the UK allow slaughtering animals without prior stunning to enable Jewish people and Muslims to meet the dietary requirements of their faiths.

But a new EU directive on the protection of animals at the time of killing will come into force in the UK in 2013, On Islam reported.

“We plan to consult on the implementation of new welfare at slaughter regulations shortly and will be seeking views on how to restrict the non-stun slaughter of animals as part of that consultation,” a Welsh government spokeswoman told Wales Online.

Read More from this post:-http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/05/06/212477.html

France

Animal cruelty pair jailed after being caught stubbing out cigarettes on pigs’ faces and hitting them with baton

• One pig was beaten 30 times in just a minute
• Defendent claimed abuse was part of the slaughterhouse ‘culture’
• Animal rights groups say abuse is widespread

Two slaughtermen who were filmed beating pigs and stubbing cigarettes out their faces were today jailed.Piotr Andrzej Wasiuta, 30 and Kelly Smith, 40, were secretly filmed by animal rights group Animal Aid, who hid cameras in pig pens at Cheale Meats in Brentwood, Essex.

Kelly Smith

Members of the charity group wept today as the pair admitted cruelty charges and were sentenced to a total of 10 weeks behind bars at Westminster Magistrates Court.

In the distressing video, Wasiuta can be seen pushing a lit cigarette onto the forehead and snout of three different pigs and forcing hot ash into one of the animals’ faces as it squirms to get away.

Abuse: Wasiuta will spend six weeks behind bars after admitting stubbing cigarettes out in a number of pigs in his care

His actions earned him a six-week jail sentence.

In another clip, Smith, an experienced slaughterman of 14 years, is seen beating the animals with the edge of a ‘slapper’ used to move the pigs around the pens before slaughter.

He is later filmed hitting one pig 30 times in a minute – forcing the animal to sit down and pant heavily during the tirade of blows.

The 40-year-old father-of-three was jailed for four weeks.

Prosecutor Duncan Penny explained to the court how the footage was obtained by a contractor at the slaughterhouse who had ties to Animal Aid.

Stress: Smith claimed he was under intense pressure when he carried out the abuse

The filmed abuse took place in March and April 2011.

Describing abuse carried out by Smith, he said:’These acts were pointless, served no purpose and demonstrated to his colleagues his contempt for the animals he was dealing with

Jeremy Sirrell, defending Smith, said the beatings happened when he was under ‘extreme pressure’ at work.

‘They were expected to slaughter 1500 animals, or units as the company would call it,’ he said.

‘It is a matter of some irony, that this extreme pressure bore out of more animals being taken from another slaughter house in proximity having been closed down as a result, quite rightly, of activity by Animal Aid.’

Sundeep Pahkhania, defending Wasiuta, said he had been working in the slaughter house for under two months, and the abuse was part of a wider culture and couldn’t explain he behaviour.

‘In the CCTV, you can see another operative walking by, and he mentions nothing,’ he said.

WARNING: This film contains scenes that viewers may find disturbing.

http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/NEWS/news_slaughter/ALL/2525

‘I suggest there was an established culture of this kind of behaviour. ‘He walks into it as very much a newbie. ‘He realises now it was unacceptable, unlawful and is disgusted with himself.’

As he sentenced them both, Magistrate John Newgas told Wasiuta and Smith: ‘You have both seen the pictures of what took place. ‘They show clear animal cruelty no doubt about it.

‘You should have known what you were doing was wrong, and must have known it was wrong.’

Both men have since been sacked from their jobs at the slaughterhouse.

Animal Aid’s Head of Campaigns, Kate Fowler said the organisation was pleased with the result of the case – but urged the government to investigate two further slaughterhouses, claiming animals abuse is widespread across the industry.

She said: ‘We are satisfied that Wasiuta and Smith have now been brought to justice.

‘Their acts of cruelty were inexcusable and caused untold suffering to animals who were already scared and vulnerable.

‘However, many other slaughterhouse workers, who also caused serious and deliberate suffering to animals, have escaped justice because this government refused to act.

‘We are now calling on the Food Standards Agency to look again at two other cases to see whether charges may be brought under the Animal Welfare Act.

‘Our detailed investigations have found illegality in eight of the nine slaughterhouses we visited, despite government-appointed vets being present in all of them.

‘The current regulatory system does not work.

‘It does not catch those who abuse animals. But this case proves that properly placed and independently-monitored cameras do work, and we renew our call for Defra to make CCTV mandatory to catch those who abuse animals and to act as a disincentive to those who might consider it.’

Cheale Meats have not commented on the case.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2135083/Animal-cruelty-pair-jailed-caught-stubbing-cigarettes-pigs-faces-hitting-baton.html#ixzz1t9qB4c2G

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Two charged with pig cruelty

Two former Essex slaughterhouse workers are to be charged with animal cruelty after footage appeared to show pigs being attacked. 

Piotr Andrzej Wasiuta, 29, from Southend, will appear in court accused of stubbing out a lighted cigarette on the snout of one of the animals at Orchard Farm, in Brentwood.

Kelly Smith, 40, from Benfleet, is facing prosecution for striking a pig with a baton, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

Simon Clements, of the CPS, said he had advised the Food Standards Agency that there was sufficient prospect for conviction after footage was obtained by the animal rights group, Animal Aid, in March and April last year. Both are accused of offences while working for Cheale Meats.

Andrzej Wasiuta faces three charges of causing unnecessary suffering to a pig by applying a lighted cigarette to its snout, while Smith faces four charges of causing unnecessary suffering to a pig.

Referring to Smith, Mr Clements said: “Two of the charges relate to failing to ensure that a lame pig was not humanely slaughtered immediately and two of the charges relate to striking a pig with a baton.”

He added: “This decision was taken in accordance with the code for Crown Prosecutors.

“After careful consideration of all the evidence, I am satisfied there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest to prosecute this case.”

Both will appear before Westminster Magistrates’ Court on April 18

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