Meat&Poultry - July 2013 - 74

From the Corral
BY DR. TEMPLE GRANDIN
meatpoultry@sosland.com

Global perspective
block contained a microchip from a

dy’s or large supermarkets buy trim-

Polish horse mixed in with horse DNA

mings directly from large plants that

from Ireland. The frozen slabs of trim-

process a single species. A high per-

mings were being traded by countless

centage of the trimmings are fresh, so

brokers throughout Europe and their

going through lots of brokers would

movements were not tracked.

be impossible. Fresh trimmings have

Poly blocks of frozen trimmings

to be made into products within a few

from one source were being re-ground

days. The frozen blocks marketed in

with other poly blocks from other plac-

Europe could remain in a long con-

es. The supply chain was long and

voluted supply chain for months. Our

in some cases, the blocks of frozen

industry needs to be able to prove that

meat may have gone through several

the different structure of the US in-

recently attended a conference for

EU countries. DNA analysis revealed

dustry would inherently help keep

food regulatory veterinarians in

that the meat came from many differ-

horse meat or other fraudulent ingre-

Ireland. The head of the Irish Food

ent origins. Further processors were

dients out of the supply chain.

Safety Agency, Allen Reilly, discussed

using frozen trimmings where they

the EU horse-meat scandal. He stated

had no idea where they came from.

Meanwhile in the US, the cowherd is at its lowest point in 50 years.

that it was “amazing the scale of this.”

There was also evidence of massive

As I travel around, I’ve seen how the

Europe has very strict laws for track-

paperwork fraud that was coordinated

pastures in the West are all burnt up.

ing the movements of live animals,

across Europe. The reason why pro-

In March, I traveled to Midland and

but after the meat leaves the plant, it

cessors were so willing to mix horse

Odessa, Texas, and went to Howard

disappears into a byzantine maze of

with beef was due its cheaper price.

College in Big Spring. The desert had
no forage and I saw no cattle. Mean-

brokers, who trade frozen trimmings.

Could it happen here?

while, the Eastern cattle industry is

re-traded all over Europe. When Irish

The structure of the US supply chain

doing well. They have plenty of rain

authorities started doing lab tests, they

would greatly reduce the chances that

and producers in Arkansas and oth-

found beef that had levels of horse

mixing different species of meat would

er areas of the east have lots of cattle.

meat that ranged from trace amounts

happen in the US. The grinding com-

Drought has greatly reduced cattle

to 29 percent horse meat. One poly

panies that supply McDonald’s, Wen-

numbers. You don’t realize how se-

These “poly blocks” are traded and

rious the drought has been until you
see the land.
In Ireland and England, record
cold has stopped pastures from growing. I flew in a helicopter over about
50 miles of Irish pasture and there I
saw nothing for livestock to eat. Producers in Ireland reported that thousands of cattle and sheep have either
been sold or have died. ■

Dr. Temple Grandin operates Grandin Livestock
Systems Inc., Fort Collins, Colo., and is a faculty
member in the animal science department at
Colorado State Univ.

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