Maybe it is to allow for cross contamination of utensils etc?

But we don't eat horsemeat in this country - so there SHOULD BE no such contamination, regardless of where the stuff is prepared.

when i buy meat-i want it to be what it says on the package/label

we've all probably eaten horsemeat but we asked for beef

and its a bit cheeky that we're sold a lesser cut of meat at full price

ive gone veggie now

good job i like veg

The reason for that could be that it's not widely available, if it was you might find that it was eaten more often in this country.

Yes, but a lot of our meat doesn't come from here....

I hate "chewed up-spat out" meat ... haven't eaten it for about 20 years (since the BSE outbreak) so I don't care if it's 1% or 100%

That's what I'm meaning though Baz. No matter what country it's coming from and/or is prepared in, if it's for the UK market it shouold contain zero percent stuff that is not wanted/eaten in the UK.

The plant can cater for any amount of countries' tastes, but there should be no transferrence between countries' foodstuffs.

Yes I agree. It makes me doubt that they clean their machinery. Maybe theres no such thing as norovirus and we've all been puking due to unhygienic meat full of bacteria etc 

Could well be, I've never been affected by this (alleged ) norovirus bug (and I work in a hospital) so maybe I've just managed to avoid all the unhygenic meat, etc.

It's like the Tesco man says.....we need to get back to eating our own home grown meat 

I only buy my meat from my son in law...I know its English, he cuts the joints, chops, its all straight from the cow/pig/lamb, I know exactly what I am eating 

I know, but not everyone has a butcher as a son in law   

Our local butcher farms. slaughters, butchers and cooks all his own produce. You know EXACTLY what it is and from whence it cometh.

I'm similar, however if the butcher was selling horse, I may well buy that too!  Whilst I can see people's point to a degree, if they buy some shite ready/frozen meal with all sorts of crap in it, why get upset that it's got a bit of horse in it too? It's certainly not about animal welfare. Seems to me that it's just about  a cultural norm re not eating horse.... Cow, sheep, pig, chicken = okay apparently, irrespective of what crap it's mixed with as long as it's not from an animal us Brits don't generally eat!

Picks self 'off of' floor....that'll be the first and probably the last time we'll ever agree about food! (Apart from a good old meringue based dessert with fresh fruit of course!)... Next step, musical taste, then 'filums'!

Is there any particular veg' that you wouldn't eat pirate, cos it's not the done thing in these parts?  Or would you be outraged if, for e.g.they slipped a few slivers of okra into a cheap veggie ready meal without telling you?

Ha Ha I was talking about the things we disagree about not the much more important things we agree on

BUTTER BEANS

As above^^^^ the important things....Thank Christ 'though that you're one of my best interwebby friends rather than I have to bloody feed or eat out with you in rl! xxx

I wasn't bloody asking you Mr. Most Fussy Bloody Eater your side of Thirsk!

I LOVE butter beans!

Tomorrow's headlines: YOU"VE BEAN HAD 1% Trace of butter bean has been found in Morrison's vegetable chilli con carne. If you thought that your chilli was 100% kidney bean, then think again. We suspect that this is the key to locating the source of the winter vomiting bug 'norovirus'....full story in our Sunday supplement special with a free sick bag  

I want to buy from the butchers but the problem I have, and had when I lived in Newcastle is that they shut early. In Newcastle I had a butcher and a fruit & veg shop around the corner but I could never get to them as their working hours were 9-5 I think they opened on a Sat morning but I was having a lie in

Somebody said to me the other week....so what if it's horse, sure you're eating meat any how

I think the 1% horse dna isn't actually meat going into it..it could be something they're using to like bind it or something, that's what I read some where.

The fact is it doesn't matter whether you spend £1 on a meal or £100 you should be made fully aware of what's in it.  Yes you spend pennies you should expect a cheaper cut of meat and should be less entitled to get on your high horse if it's not fillet steak going into the food, but for it to be a completely different animal is something that's completely unacceptable.

It's only a culture thing in so far as we don't eat meat, but more importantly its a consumer thing.  In my mind it's completely outrageous that they can sell you something and dupe you into believing it's something else.

The most dangerous thing about ready meals isthe high level of fat and salt.

100% agree with you Soozy!

Me too!

....and the salt level in ready meals.

I possibly put more salt than is strictly necessary in my pot of homemade soup.

But the whole pot (6 or 7 helpings) probably has the same or less salt than a 'one-person-helping' of a ready meal.