HORSEMEAT - the best thing to happen to the food industry ?

Over the past few weeks I have watched the headlines and fury that has hit the headlines over the horse meat Tesco and Findus issue.

One the one hand, I understand that there is a market for horse meat, in Italy it is a common meat product held in high regard.  Here in the UK it has not been a meat staple and we are unused to the concept which has added to the revulsion and disgust.

The main story, however, is not about the rights and wrongs of eating horse, that is a whole different issue, but it is very much about the labelling or rather mislabelling of products and the subsequent duping of customers, bad enough as it is,  far worse is the misrepresentation of pork products for the religious connotations this has.

On the news this weekend shoppers were being asked by a reporter what they felt about buying meat and if they trusted the supermarkets and convenience foods, most people when asked outside the supermarket announced they would be heading to the local "Butcher" for their meat form now on ! - I found myself shouting at the TV hooray!, YES! - Finally!               But will it last ? I hope so, no matter how many programmes about food are on TV and we all know there are many, there is still a place for ready meals, and whilst I seldom use them, I know that it would be silly to assume that the vast majority of people in the UK don't heat a microwave meal on a regular basis.  

Over the coming months no doubt there will be Enquiries, Court Cases, blame and counter blame but at the end the consumer needs to know that they can buy a product trusting that what is on the label is true. The only way this can happen at the moment is by selecting products with provenance, that is to say, the "brand" has to be one the consumer can trust and this leads to Artisan producers, who care passionately about their products so much so that they tell their story and have great pride in their product as a result,  maybe the price is higher but at what cost cheap food ? well horse meat ! that's what.

Michael Gove the education minister has announced that all school children between the ages of 7 and 14 will be taught cookery and learn at least 20 recipes, I hope that in this guideline they are taught about the food they eat, learn how to cook from scratch a meal that uses fresh ingredients, take a chicken for example, teaching children how to make the best use of a whole chicken, how to cut it up,looking at different recipes, making stock with the carcass and using it to make soup or a risotto for example is so much better than as my daughters did, bringing home ever endless supplies of fairy cakes !

It is interesting that, as I write the focus is switching from Findus and the horse lasagne, to Romania and their decision to rid the streets of horse and carts and thus leading to a glut of cheap meat ! The focus should be on checking the quality and testing the ingredients of any goods imported from outside the UK, stringent regulations within the UK appear to have stopped any of these rogue practises taking place on our soil but at a time when we are exporting less than we are importing we need  to regulate and check each and every product coming into the UK.

We export our products to over 30 countries across the globe, without exception we need to comply to ever weighty and rigorous export regulations and many require product testing on all consignments, at the end of the day we have confidence in our products and the ingredients we use,because we make them here in the Lake District by hand, ingredients we check and know exactly where they have been grown  we have no problem in adhering to these regulations, the same must be enforced with goods coming into the UK without exception, if the provenance of the goods you are putting into your shopping basket is not clear then stay clear is my advice!