What's the Beef About Horse Meat?

Not more than 100 yards from my house is an Italian butcher shop which just happens to specialize in "Carne di Cavallo" otherwise known as horsemeat. Horsemeat happens to be quite popular in Southern Italy as well as abroad. In Sweden horse meat outsells lamb and mutton combined. It is also commonly consumed in Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands, and it is very, very popular in Belgium and France.

Why is horsemeat in such demand worldwide? Horse-meat is relatively low in fat and high in iron. A 100-gram (3 1/2 ounces) serving of cooked, roasted meat contains 175 calories; 28 grams protein; 6 grams fat; 5 milligrams iron; 55 milligrams sodium; and 68 milligrams cholesterol.

A typical filet of horsemeat is similar to that of beef. The meat is leaner, slightly sweeter in taste, with a flavor somewhat between that of beef and venison. Good horse meat is very tender, but it can also be slightly tougher than comparable cuts of beef. The meat is higher in protein and lower in fat. The most popular cuts of horse meat come from the hindquarters: tenderloin, sirloin, fillet steak, rump steak and rib. Less tender cuts are ground.

Americans in general problem don't cotton to the idea of eating horsemeat any more than do eating the meat of a dog. But in many parts of the world the horse meat industry is now rivaling the beef and pork industries in the amounts of fresh meat shipped abroad. In fact up until just recently -- in the United States -- over 100,000 pounds of horse meat was shipped overseas on an annual basis.

I bet if I served you a cut of horse meat right now -- you wouldn't know the difference. In fact, I bet you would really like it. But I imagine all this positive press won't sway too many people in the Untied States. According to www.igha.org, in late 2006, a bill that bans the sale of horses for human consumption recently passed in the House and is an important step in protecting an animal that is an icon of American culture.

Well...there are a lot of icons of American culture and we eat quite a few of them on a daily basis.

In early 2007, The Humane Society of the United States commended American Airlines and Delta Air Lines for suspending overseas shipments of horsemeat from Texas slaughterhouses following an appellate court decision upholding a 1949 Texas law declaring horsemeat illegal The HSUS -- the nation's largest animal protection organization -- is now urging the airlines to make this a permanent policy.

According to an article on www.hsus.org, legislation to ban the slaughter of American horses nationwide was introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate in 2006 by Senators. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and John Ensign (R-Nev.), with 12 original cosponsors, and Reps. Janice Schakowsky (D-Ill.) Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), John Spratt (D-S.C.), and Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) introduced a companion bill, H.R. 503, with 62 original cosponsors.

The measure received tremendous bipartisan support in the 109th Congress, winning a vote of 263 to 146 in the House. However, the bill stalled in the Senate in late 2006 after the Department of Agriculture -- lobbied by the owners of the plants and their allies in Congress and in the horse and cattle industries -- issued new rules allowing the plants to keep operating by paying the $350,000 annual cost of the inspections.

Interestingly enough, the USDA apparently has no qualms about the sale and consumption of horsemeat. In fact the site www.igha.org points out the recommended modes of preparation and storage of horsemeat. The United States Food Safety Inspection Service (www.fsis.usda.gov) has free access to its rules and regulations regarding its inspection policy for horse meat.

In case you didn't know, there are three horse processing plants in the Untied States. All three are foreign-owned subsidies. The three plants that operate in the United States -- two in Texas and one in Illinois, all owned by French and Belgian firms -- slaughtered 91,000 horses last year, according to USDA figures. Most of the meat is exported, although some is sold to U.S. zoos to feed their animals. These processing plants generate millions of dollars in revenue and provide jobs to dozens of individuals in the local areas of operation.

For what's its worth, I think a person should be able to eat whatever they want. I eat horse meat a few times a month and I like horses. This is just conjecture on my part, but I think if horse were less revered there wouldn't be such a fuss. No one in Congress seems particularly upset about the slaughter of cows and pigs. I don't remember hearing about any bills to outlaw the slaughter of rabbits. And Americans eat more than their share of rabbit meat or rabbit stew.

According to www.chow.com, horses often sell at auction for as little as 40 cents a pound, but they can fetch $15 per pound in the retail market. Japanese diners pay a premium for thinly sliced horse meat, grilled or served raw as carpaccio. In Antwerp, Belgium there's a restaurant -- one of several actually -- that offers patrons horsemeat for upwards of $25 to $40 a plate. In Italy -- at least in my experience -- if you want horsemeat at a restaurant you request it. More often than not it's on the menu anyway. Most butcher shops carry it and there are specialty shops that carry the meat exclusively.

Surprisingly, I don't know of any restaurants that serve horsemeat in the United States. I bet they are out there however.