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View Full Version : UK Burger King admits to selling beef burgers and Whoppers containing horsemeat



lapis
31st January 2013, 10:03 PM
Package shrink comes to the fast food industry.

I think one of the reasons why there's such a push to convince people to go vegetarian is because meat prices will probably be unaffordable for the masses in the future.

May as well convince the useless eaters to change their diet now rather than face their wrath about yet another thing that's become prices out of their range.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2271440/Burger-King-admits-selling-beef-burgers-Whoppers-containing-horse-meat.html

Burger King has tonight admitted that it has been selling burgers and Whoppers containing horsemeat despite two weeks of denials.

The fast food chain, which has more than 500 UK outlets, had earlier given a series of ‘absolute assurances’ that its products were not involved.

However, new tests have revealed these guarantees were incorrect in a revelation that threatens to destroy the trust of customers.

It also raises serious questions about whether the food company, which sells around one million burgers a week in the UK, has any good idea about what goes into its products.
The contaminated burgers were made by the Irish-based processing company, Silvercrest, which is part the ABP Foods Group.

More...



Now Asda and Co-op are dragged into horsemeat-contaminated beef burger scandal as they admit to DNA discoveries in products (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2270835/Horsemeat-scandal-Now-Asda-Co-Op-dragged-admit-DNA-discoveries-products.html)
Contaminated burgers made in Poland for UK supermarkets contained horse and beef 'offcuts' for up to a year (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2270559/Contaminated-burgers-Poland-UK-supermarkets-contained-horse-beef-offcuts-year.html)


The same company also made tainted burgers for Tesco, Asda and the Co-op, among others.

Burger King has faced allegations of orchestrating a cover-up of its links to the horsemeat scandal in order to give it time to find an alternative supplier.

It is currently shipping in tens of thousands of burgers from suppliers in Germany and Italy in order to meet demand at its UK outlets.

It is known that the management at Silvercrest has been using a series of non-approved ingredients in their burgers for a range of household name brands.

These included meat off-cuts, including horse, that were imported in large frozen blocks from Poland.

The contamination has been going on since at least last May and potentially for up to one year, according to evidence presented to MPs earlier this week.

Tonight Burger King abandoned its earlier denials, saying: ‘Four samples recently taken from the Silvercrest plant have shown the presence of very small trace levels of equine DNA.

‘Within the last 36 hours, we have established that Silvercrest used a small percentage of beef imported from a non-approved supplier in Poland.

‘They promised to deliver 100per cent British & Irish beef patties and have not done so. This is a clear violation of our specifications, and we have terminated our relationship with them.

‘Through our investigation, we have confirmed that this non-approved Polish supplier is the same company identified by the Irish Department of Agriculture as the source of Silvercrest’s contamination issue.’

The contamination scandal was first triggered two weeks ago, with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland revealed it had found horse meat in burgers sold in Ireland and the UK.

When the news first emerged, Burger King said it had been given an ‘absolute assurance’ by its supplier that its products were not involved.

Yesterday, Burger King vice president, Diego Beamonte, said: ‘We are deeply troubled by the findings of our investigation and apologise to our guests, who trust us to source only the highest quality 100per cent beef burgers.

‘Our supplier has failed us and in turn we have failed you. We are committed to ensuring that this does not happen again.’

He added: ‘We will dedicate ourselves to determining what lessons can be learned and what additional measures, including DNA testing and enhanced traceability controls, can be taken to ensure that we continue to provide you with the quality products you expect from us.’

Jeanette Longfield, of the campaigning food and health group, Sustain, has condemned Burger King’s handling of the problem.

‘Burger King’s approach has been very shabby,’ she said.

‘It really is not the open, honest and transparent way that we expect a major food company to treats its customers.’

Earlier today, Aldi admitted for the first time that burgers sold through its UK stores were also probably contaminated with traces of horse meat.

Its burgers were made by a British supplier, Dalepak, which is based in Richmond, north Yorkshire.

The same company manufactures burgers for Iceland, which has also admitted to finding horse meat in products sold to families in this country.

Dalepak also makes burgers for Waitrose and Sainsbury’s, which both insist that their burgers are clear of contamination.

The processing company is a subsidiary of the Irish company, ABP Food Group, which also owns a second burger manufacturing business, which is Silvercrest, in southern Ireland.

Aldi said a sample of its frozen Oakhurst Beefburgers showed up positive for 0.1per cent horse DNA, while its Oakhurst Beef Quarter Pounders were 0.1per cent equine and 0.1per cent pork.

The company withdrew all of its frozen burgers from UK stores when the scandal first erupted two weeks ago as a precaution.

A spokesman said: ‘Customers are our absolute priority. This is why we immediately withdrew these products until such a time that we could verify that there was no risk to our customers.

‘We are deeply angry and feel let down by our supplier and we are pursuing more tests until we are certain that we understand how the production line was contaminated.

‘Aldi requires rigorous verification and quality control procedures and we cannot allow our quality commitment to our customers to be compromised.

‘We will continue to maintain active scrutiny across our supply lines, and we assure our customers their health and safety is our number one priority.’

General of Darkness
31st January 2013, 10:08 PM
About ten years ago I was in Parisulam or maybe it was Londonstan and the burgers did taste a little off there.

joboo
31st January 2013, 10:13 PM
Meh...the horse meat is probably cleaner than the beef they scrape off the floor to make the burgers with.

The horses are more likely to be grass fed as well.

Glass
31st January 2013, 10:16 PM
Many years ago (20) I'd be tempted to buy frozen burgers. There were a couple ok brands. One that actually had mostly ground beef in it. I picked up a pack 6 months ago and they had changed completely. It looked more like a tofu pattie. It was completely rubbery. You tore bits off rather than bite them off because of the rubbery toughness. Don't know what was in them but I don't think there was any beef. I have eaten the odd burger king. Always tell myself off afterwards. Managed to talk myself out of it the last time. Much better idea.

This kind of thing doesn't surprise me. If you trust someone else to make your food for you, they are going to cheat. I think these stores should be placing a permanent notice on their fronts. "This company fed horse meat to our customers prior to 2013 in stead of the beef they paid for."

lapis
31st January 2013, 10:29 PM
Meh...the horse meat is probably cleaner than the beef they scrape off the floor to make the burgers with.

The horses are more likely to be grass fed as well.

I agree with you in principal. But the idea of eating a horse makes me sad.

madfranks
1st February 2013, 07:47 AM
Remember those 1000 cats they recovered in China? I bet some of them make it in the burger king meat too. Tasty!

Dogman
1st February 2013, 08:20 AM
Remember those 1000 cats they recovered in China? I bet some of them make it in the burger king meat too. Tasty!

BK in different country's, probably adopt this business model..

"When in Rome do as the Romans do"

And use cats, dogs and other 'critters' as meat filler.

agnut
1st February 2013, 10:54 AM
Sounds like this has all the makings for a movie. Let’s call it “Soylent Greed”.

On a more useful note I am here to tell y’all that it may be wise to seek out parties who raise beef and therefore you would know just what you are getting. This also may become a very important resource in the future.

I have been raising beefalo the last few years and it has been fantastic. Much less fat and still very tasty. I have a friend who sells his beefalo meat for about $4 per pound. In fact, last year I split a steer with him; most of it is still in our freezers. I have also already agreed to split his last beefalo steer with him later this year. He does have a 2,600 pound beefalo bull that he says is only good for hamburger because it is older and therefore tougher meat if cut into steaks or roasts. I’m not interested here but this bull is really something to look at.

I have been trading some of my beefalo for fresh salmon and smoked salmon and Dungeness crab. Just met a guy who wants to trade scallops for beefalo. I have ceased raising beefalo and have only domestic steers now, four of them. The beefalo are wily and escape artists. Last year a couple got out by tearing down the fence and were running down the nearby highway. My sons and I had to herd them back home which was quite the challenge since they have always acted somewhat wild. I had to even bring out the big guns if things got out of hand.

So no more beefalo for me. Well, except for the paper packaged kind.

Yes, beef will get more expensive in the future. It is only logical. Other meats and seafood also. So what to do ?

As I advised above, now is the time to begin to make connections for buying and trading for meats and seafood (if you are far inland, trades for trout, perch and other freshwater foods). As I am a barterer and horse trader, I must have something to barter with. Beef sounds like a good item; home grown beef is even better. Especially in a world when you don’t know the history of what you are buying in the marketplace.

And what about canned tuna ? Does it have cesium in it ? How about strontium 90 ? How about plutonium ? And if so, how much ? Enough to give us cancer or tumors in the future ? Does anybody really know ? Or are we all just guinea pigs to TPTB ? Why doesn’t the public know what the danger is ? You would think that with all our technology, we would have the answers readily available for something so crucial to our health and very lives.

We on this website are supposed to be futurists, aren’t we ? And what do futurists do ? Riiiiiiight, we think about the future and hopefully we also think about how we can preposition ourselves to fit into that future like a hand fits into a custom fitted glove. Here is an example that some of you may not like to read :

For some time I have been advising others to consider holding their physical silver in three equal valued forms. Bullion, 90% silver U.S. coins and sterling silver. Why ? Because I saw what the government could do regarding confiscation and didn’t want to be at their mercy (yeah, right, mercy. HaHa). Ponce recently posted an article that the govt. is considering legislation to regulate gold and silver bullion.

http://gold-silver.us/forum/showthread.php?66989-New-Bill-Requires-Gold-amp-Silver-Registration-V

This is the other form of confiscation that I have been aware of for several years. So if they are going also to confiscate U.S. 90% coins and sterling silverware and jewelry, they are going to have to make a law stating so. I wonder how the ladies in America would feel having to register their sales of sterling silverware and jewelry, especially if they need to in order to feed their starving children. This is the kind of thing that creates revolutions.

Back in 1998 I began to read the postings on Timebomb2000; I still do on a daily basis. So I am going into the 15th year now. That says a lot since there are tons of websites out there from which we can derive our information. Much of my foundation of prepping and understanding comes from reading that website; the internet has been as though the library of Congress were thrown open to my personal use as much as I had the time and strength to absorb.

Never before in the history of mankind has there been the opportunity to receive so much information at such a rapid rate. I believe and hope that this new phenomenon generates mind expansion that will enable mankind to make the necessary paradigm leaps in evolution which will create a whole new being. This is a future perhaps beyond our mere mortal lifetimes but nevertheless, we are part of the process. Our insight into the whole evolutionary picture may lend some peacefulness for those of us here on earth living in such primitive spiritual times. “We are our brothers’ keeper”; who disagrees with this ? Moreover, who enthusiastically embraces this as a way of life ?

But even with all this information, we will never know the future exactly as it unfolds. We must be content with what we do understand and act upon events which yield betterment for ourselves and loved ones. We are the leaders for the future. Not the leaders some may think but the leaders for our families and our communities across this great land.

We may well be the unsung heroes of the future. But where else would you want to be ?

Hope this gives y’all more than just “food for thought”. People are depending on you; they just don’t know it right now.

Best wishes,

Agnut

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a little better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is the meaning of success. "
Ralph Waldo Emerson

MNeagle
1st February 2013, 11:23 AM
Just got back from the butcher because I'm interested seeing prices & doing a taste-test comparison. So here are some numbers from that spot:

Frozen Grass-fed hamburger patties: $8.50/lb
Their regular frozen hamburger patties: $4.69/lb (their claim is all their meats are antibotic free, etc. but not certified örganic")
Frozen Bison patties: $8.99/lb

Didn't think to look for beefalo, so can't compare.

Next shopping trip, I'll look @ Costco's prices on their grass-fed hamburger.

joboo
1st February 2013, 12:45 PM
With only about a decade in on the whole GMO corn fed meat scenario, I'm going grass fed all the way. The fast food industry is driving the supermarkets, as all the farmers have to go to the lowest common denominator to stay in business.

It's been 6-7 months since I've had Mcdonald's, and it was just a large fry, with a GMO coke at the drive through as a passenger with friends. Several more months of abstinence before that. Burger king? Years since I've eaten there.

If people would stop buying this garbage non-food it would allow farmers to once again grow a quality product.

Read Fast food Nation.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/515u4OGkejL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0547750331/ref=sib_dp_pt/191-8400659-8124815#reader-link)

http://www.amazon.com/Fast-Food-Nation-Dark-All-American/dp/0547750331

MNeagle
1st February 2013, 12:55 PM
And what about canned tuna ? Does it have cesium in it ? How about strontium 90 ? How about plutonium ? And if so, how much ? Enough to give us cancer or tumors in the future ? Does anybody really know ? Or are we all just guinea pigs to TPTB ? Why doesn’t the public know what the danger is ? You would think that with all our technology, we would have the answers readily available for something so crucial to our health and very lives.


& why wouldn't those be an issue w/ your salmon, crab or scallops agnut???

agnut
1st February 2013, 03:42 PM
& why wouldn't those be an issue w/ your salmon, crab or scallops agnut???

Hi Mneagle, always nice to hear from you.

Good point; actually I don’t know about the possible radiation poisoning in my salmon, crab or scallops. The crab and scallops don’t travel far like the salmon; this should diminish their contamination somewhat (at least the radioactive kind). I don’t know how far the salmon range in their lives nor what they may pick up when they are there. This is another point which begs for the answers as to whether we are being poisoned or not.

People who catch and eat salmon usually know about what type of salmon they value highest and when and where they are caught. Is it fresh or frozen ? Atlantic or Pacific ? Wild or farmed ? Also, smaller salmon are preferred since they haven’t lived as many years and therefore haven’t accumulated as much contamination.

A whole field of scientific inquiry should be arrayed against this so crucial potential radioactive danger. But has it ? Or has the effect upon our ocean life been kept secret ? And what of the air we breathe ? Or the rain that falls upon our earth, watering the crops we eat ?

Here are a few websites that may reveal some news and information that we will not hear from our media :

http://fukushima-diary.com/category/dnews/

The Food Lab, testing for radioactive contamination in food and the environment.
By Peter Daley

http://sccc.org.au/archives/2861

http://technologypals.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/How-to-set-up-a-home-or-community-food-testing-lab-for-radioactive-contamination.pdf

http://technologypals.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Using-a-Geiger-Counter-to-test-food-for-Radioactive-Contamination.pdf

Not to be morbid but have you considered that what I call “prefukushima canned tuna” may be valuable someday ? It depends upon what becomes known about just how contaminated ocean tuna has become in the last year and three quarters. A clue may come from the change in price difference between Pacific tuna and Atlantic tuna. In other words, how sensitive are the Japanese to their contamination news about eating local tuna ?

I don’t know but am only speculating. By the way, I have several hundred cans of tuna bought as preps several years ago. I’ll be closely watching eBay auctions from now on. Could do better than silver. HaHa (a sick, miserly, morbid laugh would be appropriate here).

Best wishes,

Agnut

P.S. The radiation testing equipment is expensive and therefore precludes most folks from finding out whether or not they are being slowly poisoned. Testing would become feasible if many folks were to join together and share costs on food being bought in mass quantities. Any way you look at it, getting to the bottom of things won’t be inexpensive or easy. This should be the responsibility of a government. But can they be trusted ?