Say It Isn't So!

In class recently, we had a discussion about the food industry and how the United States is much more lax about where/how its food is produced compared to other places in the world, particularly Europe. We don't care that our food is filled with extra dyes, preservatives, and hormones, but how do you think  Americans would feel if they knew that meals advertised as having beef were actually made partially with horse meat?

That's right, I said it. HORSE MEAT.

How would you know whether or not you could trust this meat?

Folks over at Nestlé in Switzerland aren't too happy right now because they have just detected horse meat in some of their products--they aren't the only ones though, just the most recent in a slew of scandals. At least they are so ashamed of it that they are making recalls on the tainted meals.

Here in America, we had our own scandal about a year ago with the so-called "pink slime" filler in ground meats, which is why my own family now only buys organic meats, but you can also go to the butcher, pick out a cut of meat (such as a chuck roast), and have the butcher grind it right in front of your face.

This article piqued my interest because I can't figure out why European nations feel the need to use a substitute for beef when they have a smaller amount of people to feed than larger countries like the United States. So what happens when the world's population is so out of control when this becomes the norm? Are going to kill our domesticated dogs and cats too? It's a scary prospect to think about, especially when you know something like that is bound to happen as our world continues to grow rapidly.

Article cred: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/02/130222-horse-meat-beef-scandal-food-france-england-europe-science-romania-nestle-horsemeat/

Photo cred: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/16/16964619-fraud-on-a-massive-scale-europes-horse-meat-scandal-keeps-on-growing?lite