Just a snippet from the office this week, we found ourselves in discussion regarding the horsemeat scandal and, while finding the exact date of the affair, I stumbled across a very interesting read. An article titled “What Did We Learn from the Horsemeat Scandal and Should We Still Be Worried?” published in 2019 put smile on my face but also captured my interest so I thought I would share.
For anyone that remembers, back in 2013 frozen ‘beef’ Lasagne and Spaghetti Bolognese products manufactured by Comigel were tested and found to contain up to 100% horse meat in some cases. Comigel supplied products to Tesco, Aldi and Findus leading to widespread disgust among the British public. However, contrary to belief at the time, horse meat is in fact edible so the issue wasn’t with the meat itself. The issue was due to uncertainty regarding whether meat was contaminated with illegal pharmaceuticals.
The scandal’s effects were more widespread than just tarnished reputations, ranging from damage to consumer confidence to psychological trauma from unintentionally eating animals considered as pets.
The scandal did, however, have positive effects, more people turned to organically sourced, British meat products, providing a strong boost to the British farming industry. A government report was also commissioned to establish how it happened and what steps could be taken to make sure it never happened again.
Feel free to go and have a read for yourself of what made me chuckle this week.
Horsegate had many consequences, not least for consumers who became unsuspecting victims. Consumers became economical victims of this food crime when they paid for beef and instead unknowingly received a cheaper horsemeat alternative.
