Britons turn to horse burgers as scandal piques interest

Speciality meat suppliers in Britain have seen a surge in sales of horse burgers, with a scandal over the discovery of horsemeat in beef burgers and frozen meals apparently piquing the curiosity of shoppers.

Horse meat is viewed as a delicacy in some European countries, in South America and in east Asia, but is generally not eaten in Britain.

The discovery of horse DNA in beef burgers and spaghetti bolognese sold by Britain's retailers, including market leader Tesco, and in beef lasagne made by frozen foods group Findus, has drawn widespread condemnation, with government ministers blaming an "international criminal conspiracy".

However, extensive media coverage of the Europe-wide scandal has also sparked interest in the consumption of horse meat and other even more adventurous meats.

Paul Webb, the director of central England-based speciality meat supplier Exotic Meats, says his company has seen a 10-fold increase in the sale of horsemeat products since the scandal erupted on January 15.

"People are inquisitive, intrigued by what it tastes like," he said.

"While people are putting horse into their shopping cart on the website they are also putting in things like zebra, llama and alpaca."

Berwickshire, Scotland-based Kezie Foods, which sells horsemeat products alongside elk, kangaroo and crocodile, has seen horse meat sales double over the last three weeks, with strong demand from restaurants as well as individuals.

"Whenever you have issues to do with alternative meats you either have people who decide that's not for them or people who want to exercise their right to eat whatever they choose to eat," director Walter Murray said.

'Repulsive concept'

But for some the idea of eating horse remains abhorrent.

"For many horse owners, eating horsemeat is as repulsive a concept as eating cat or dog," Victoria Spicer, editor of Horse & Country TV, said.

"The horse has been an integral part of Britain's history and culture and we owe our equine friends much more than this."

The British Retail Consortium, whose members represent 80 per cent of the UK retail industry, said although there was no evidence of consumers avoiding beef, they were being more selective in beef burger purchases, with more interest in fresh burgers rather than frozen ones.

"What we're hearing from our members is that there hasn't been any drastic change in customers' buying patterns as a result of any of this because they're clear that this is not a safety issue," a BRC spokesman said.

However, independent butchers said they have seen an upturn in recent trade.

"Independent butchers are experiencing greater footfall at the present time," said Roger Kelsey, chief of the National Federation of Meat and Food Traders, which represents Britain's traditional high-street butchers.

"That's basically because in the eyes of the general public, local traders are a better source of supply, due to their on site controls, because they tend to source product from local sources and they produce their own products on site."

Slaughterhouse raid

Meanwhile, British police and regulators have raided a slaughterhouse and a meat processor suspected of selling horsemeat as beef.

"It is totally unacceptable if any business in the UK is defrauding the public by passing off horsemeat as beef," Britain's environment secretary Owen Paterson said.

"I expect the full force of the law to be brought down on anyone involved in this kind of activity."

In Paris, French prosecutors opened a preliminary judicial investigation to determine whether fraud has been committed in the growing scandal.

The prosecutor's office said a judicial inquiry had been opened in the north-eastern city of Metz on Monday, but subsequently it was transferred to Paris, where national issues of food security are investigated.

Source: ABC News, 13 February 2013