So hungry you could eat a horse?

Well you're in luck. As I'm sure you are aware, it has been discovered that Tescos burgers contain an enormous 29% horse meat. Tescos of course deny any knowledge of this and for some reason I believe them. It's far more likely that the horse meat was added in the production process, before Tesco ordered the burgers.

This minor controversial find opens up a couple of questions, firstly, who is to blame for the horse meat in the first place? And secondly, is it really a big deal?



Starting with the first question, the supermarket giant is locked in a price war, making them desperate to cut costs wherever possible. The problem with that is that it can lead to unethical behaviour, with Tescos pressurising producers to supply products cheaper or else risk losing the collosal business Tescos bring. I don't want to delve to deep into the business ethics surrounding the business, but I'm saying that its quite likely that although Tesco may not have known about the horse meat, they may have been the one the caused the producers to use it.


So onto the second question, is the use of horse meat that big a deal? Well, I think that is something very subjective. A fair amount of people accept that horse meat is delicious, and don't seem phased by the use of it, but others are simply disgusted to even think about it.

For once I think I can truly understand both sides of the argument. The horse has slowly become an extension to the pet, so although to less extent, it would be like eating cat or dog meat. The problem with this view is that people don't really understand what goes on to obtain the horse meat. Many imagine a poaching style scene, breaking into stables before kidnapping horses for torture and murder. The horses that have been killed are bred for that very reason, or sold for their meat. So, if you are a keen horse rider, don't be afraid that one day your precious horse will become your dinner.

So, for the people who think horse meat is perfectly fine, and actually very desirable, well good for you, but you can't deny the fact the the real problem is that consumers weren't aware of it.

This brings me conveniently back to my first point, saying that chances are Tesco weren't aware of the horse meat, so had no reason to put it on the label. But what should be done to solve this? Well, I say just brush it under the carpet and let it all blow over, the story might be in and out of the news, but give it long enough and it'll become pretty stable. (Apologies for dreadful horse pun)