Janet Street-Porter: Horsemeat is safe, healthy - and tasty
I've long thought that most animal rights protesters are probably less equipped in the intelligence department than the creatures they so vociferously seek to protect, and events of the past few days have certainly proved me correct.
A month or so ago, I started researching a story for the latest series of Gordon Ramsay's F Word, on the merits of eating horsemeat. We're not talking about old nags destined for the knackers' yard, animals who have outlived their usefulness at the local riding stables, retired racing fillies or even unwanted pets. My report - broadcast last Tuesday - focused on horses which have been bred to be eaten, fed an organic diet, and slaughtered using methods which conform to strict EU guidelines. According to French animal welfare charities, there is no evidence of a single case of a horse being mistreated during the slaughtering process.
In France, horse is the only red meat which has increased in popularity recently, and the government has relaxed the regulations which meant it had to be sold in specialist butchers. Now it can be sold in supermarkets, and sales have soared.
Horsemeat is 50 per cent leaner than beef, high in protein and 10 times richer in Omega-3. Gram for gram it is richer in iron than spinach, high in B12, rich in zinc, and very low in saturated fat. It is frequently prescribed by doctors in France and Italy for anaemic patients. Horses are far pickier eaters than cows, and those bred for the table are generally eating an additive-free diet, making their meat far safer for the consumer.
When I gave samples of barbecued horsemeat to members of the British public to taste (in Cheltenham and on the F Word film set in London), a huge majority liked it, and said they didn't have a problem eating it. But when news of this experiment filtered out to the press, the Daily Mail ran a feature which contained the following preposterous statement: "As long as they [horses] have names and personalities, they're not going to make it on to our dinner plates this side of the Channel, thanks very much."
And Marcus Wareing, one of Gordon's former protégées, was quoted as saying "it's unthinkable". But wouldn't you rather eat a meat that is clearly so much healthier, that contains no secret ingredients, and is guaranteed free from BSE? Or would you prefer to eat mystery meat in burgers and pies which comes from many different countries?
Waffling on about Black Beauty is to miss the point. When it comes to intelligence tests, it's been regularly proved that horses are no smarter than chickens. Peta (People for the ethical treatment of animals) have said that filming a balanced report about the benefits of horsemeat "reeks of desperation" and the RSPCA claimed they would have "significant concerns" if horsemeat for consumption in the UK was imported from the Continent.
On the day the film was broadcast, animal rights protesters dumped a ton of horse manure outside Mr Ramsay's restaurant at Claridges in London. They should be far more concerned about the 5,000 or so horses that are exported from the UK to the Continent to be slaughtered for human consumption. It cannot be best practice to move any animal this distance before being killed, no matter how humanely.
And if you or I want to eat horsemeat, then it's our choice. Peta supporters just hate all meat eaters, and my experiment proves conclusively we British aren't nearly as squeamish about horse as they imagine.
from:
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/janet-street-porter/janet-streetporter-horsemeat-is-safe-healthy--and-tasty-449119.html
