Have It Their Way (with horse meat)

Last year, the horse meat found in Burger King's beef in the United Kingdom drew attention from the media worldwide. Though it may sound unbelievable, an article from the Guardian newspaper verified the horse meat scandal. http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/jan/31/burger-king-horsemeat. Authorities insisted that there are no dangers to consumers, but still dropped the supplier, Silvercrest Foods. The legal import of horse meat in Britain was 30 tons last year from all sources combined.

The horse meat scandal has become a reoccurrence with many suppliers and distributors. Horse meat is cheaper than beef after all. After the Burger King fiasco, Aldi became the first supermarket to withdraw its "beef" products, with beef products containing up to 100% horse meat. Aldi claimed to feel angry and let down by their supplier Tesco, after the DNA testing of their beef. http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/feb/09/aldi-100-percent-horsemeat-beef-products. 

Shortly after, Ikea joined the list of distributors involved in the sales of horse meat. In 2013, Ikea withdrew their signature Swedish meatballs from markets and cafeterias. While this horse meat epidemic has only been uncovered in Europe, they have still belonged to many big names and brands that people trust. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/world/europe/ikea-recalls-its-meatballs-horse-meat-is-detected.html?pagewanted=all

A few months after this horse meat surfacing, Obama moved to ban slaughter of horses for human consumption.  The plan was to prevent money from being spent on inspection of horse slaughtering facilities. Without inspection, these facilities cannot operate. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/11/business/obama-moves-to-block-slaughter-of-horses-for-meat.html. In conclusion, I wonder if the treatment of our animals in slaughterhouses, the process of our meat packaging, and the conditions of our factory workers were to become world wide news like the Burger King scandal, would something be done legally?