So, do I really have to be the one to ask?
What does horsemeat taste like?
Pretty good, actually. I’d put it somewhere in between pork and beef, flavour-wise. It’s a bit sweeter than beef, but it has more of a meaty note than pork. I use it in sandwiches sometimes, but I wouldn’t trust someone who sells me horse and says it’s beef to use quality meat.
From memory*, it’s lean, red meat, a bit more ‘red’ tasting than beef, but not quite as strongly flavoured as venison.
*I’ve only ever eaten it in the form of sausages, in France - and it was a while ago.
I went to Burger King the other day. When they asked me if I wanted anything on my burger I said “Ok a fiver each way” 
Europeans should get off their high horse about the scandal, its not like they’ve ever yelled until they were hoarse about some small food issue
Reminds me of the “Crunchy Frog” Monty Python sketch.
They could call their product “Lasagna Surprise.”
Is it possible to be allergic to horse meat but not beef? If so, that’s a good reason for this to matter.
There are a ton of irrationalities in what we like or dislike about food, but to most people they’re are nonetheless very important. Nearly all of us make distinctions among animals between those that we consider food and those that we treat as friends, and for the latter to be served up to us as the former is a serious and upsetting violation of those boundaries. It’s disturbing and gross.
I haven’t taken a fence - it’s the papers that are making hay out of it. Bunch of neighsayers, but we’re saddled with them. Question is whether this is a one-off or part of a rein of terror, and you know some people are going to stirrup all the trouble they can. It’s not even as if horse meat is bad for you - it’s rich in foalic acid, for a start; the worst it ever gave me was the trots - and, frankly, the common colt has done for more people than horse meat ever did. But people are up in arms if the latest Gallup poll is anything to go by, and I guess more cases are going to crop up.
Another Daily Mail link which is (probably) unconnected, but rather amusingly timed…
After all this time, the IRA must tell us what they did with super-horse Shergar.
Allergies to any kind of mammalian meat are not common. And the thing that causes the allergy is damaged by heat, so it is even more rare for it to require the sufferer to carefully avoid thoroughly cooked meats.
I’m allergic to pork, probably a fairly rare food allergy. Pork is always thoroughly cooked, and that does not help at all. My allergy is not severe, more of an intolerance than an acute allergy. I feel sick for 2-6 hours after eating it. The allergy was discovered when I was 16 with the standard allergen scratch test.
I’m not allergic to any other mammalian meat I’ve ever tried. Based on that, it seems like it should be possible to be allergic to horse and not beef, or vice versa for that matter.
How long before they find cat or dog meat in some processed food? How long before they find human meat in supermarket burgers?
I’ve always been puzzled about what is in Arby’s “roast beef”. It is a sort of untextured stuff-does it contain horse?
What’s your point? How is this relevant? Uncommon and rare don’t mean impossible.
It wouldn’t account for the intensity of the hullabaloo, and I doubt it is in any way a significant consideration in said hullabaloo. You can disagree, of course.
I was trying to figure out how they were getting their hands on so much horsemeat. Where are all these horses coming from and how come no one noticed this before?
Everyone I know has been making terrible jokes about it, but not actually bothered. At the same time, they would like to know what they are buying, which is fair enough - there’s no squeamishnous necessary for that.
Horse racing industries around the world have large excesses of horses (only a small percentage make it to the track for trials, very few win often - large numbers of injuries and general unsuitability).
Part of the concern is that your average horse was not bred / raised to be meat - a racehorse particularly will have had a lot of things done to it that might make the meat unsuitable for humans, rather than cattle which have a high probability of ending up as food.
I’m in Australia where horse meat is not available for human consumption (there was one pop up restaurant at one stage) - part of this means that some of the bodies that control the processing of meat for human consumption do not regulate the horse meat companies. Processing of horses is not done in the same way or with the same reviews that cattle/sheep have.
I don’t eat meat so I’m very biased (I also own horses and sheep - which wont be eaten!) … I’d like to know that the packaging of a product I buy reflects what is inside, that the product has gone through the appropriate testing/hygiene regulations, that I’m paying money for the right thing and that I’m eating what I choose. Being misled by manufacturers who are not keeping strict protocols on their production is not what most people want.
Horse meat isn’t certified for human consumption in the UK either. Part of the reason for the kerfuffle for the good reasons you mention.
I doubt many racehorses are in this meat, though. Not a lot of racehorses, lots of pet dogs and cats.