Drugged Up Horsemeat Sold as Beef at Supermarkets

by Daniel G. J.
StoryLeak
September 8, 2013

Frozen meals sold at a major supermarket chain contained horsemeat instead of beef, some of which was found to contain a veterinary drug so dangerous that it is illegal to give to humans.

Some of the frozen meals sold at the Aldi supermarkets in Great Britain contained 100% horsemeat even though they were labeled beef, and at least two other major British supermarkets have been caught selling horsemeat as beef in recent weeks. Tesco, Britain’s largest grocer, sold hamburgers that contained horsemeat. Another chain called Findus sold lasagna that contained horsemeat.

What’s really scary is that the horsemeat was on sale for several months before anybody realized what was going on, and some media reports indicate that Findus executives knew they were selling horsemeat to the public last year but did nothing.

The meat apparently came from a French supplier and was not sold in the United States. Aldi, the supermarket which bills itself as a low-cost grocer responsible for selling the meat, is expanding its operations in the United States. As far as its origin, the horsemeat likely came from Romania.

Horsemeat Contains Dangerous Drugs

Some of the horsemeat might have contained a potentially dangerous veterinary drug called phenylbutazone, The Guardian reported. Phenylbutazone is so dangerous it is illegal to give the drug to human beings. Guardian journalists discovered that around 5% of slaughtered horses’ carcasses contain the drug.