Horsemeat scandal boosts Bradford, Ilkley, Otley and Cullingworth butchers

7:00am Tuesday 12th February 2013 in News Photograph of the Author By Jessica Nightingale, T&A Reporter

Butcher Keith Taplin says business has increased since the horsemeat scandal Butcher Keith Taplin says business has increased since the horsemeat scandal

Butchers in the Bradford district say they are enjoying a surge in business because of the continuing horsemeat scandal which has affected some leading supermarket chains and food producers.

They say it has led to concerned customers increasingly turning to their local butchers for their meat purchases.

Keith Taplin, owner of Taplins Butchers in the Oastler Shopping Centre in Bradford, said he had experienced record trade at the weekend.

He said: “It has been unbelievably busy. At this time of year after Christmas and New Year it quietens down, but since this hit the headlines we have been very busy and completely different.”

John Summers Butchers in Druids Street, Clayton, said: “The sales have increased by a considerable amount. Our regular customers are buying extra amounts and we have seen an increase in strangers coming into the shop.

“In particular we are selling more mince and burgers.”

Andrew Wilson, owner of the Bradford Riverford Organic foods franchise, said it had seen a increase of a fifth in sales and inquiries.

He said: “We have seen a lot more customers asking about where the meat has come from, customers clearly want confidence of where they are buying from. All the meat we sell is 100 per cent British.

“In this past year we have seen more people buying our meat combo boxes which have enough food for a week’s shopping for families.”

Ellisons butchers in Cullingworth says its business has jumped by ten per cent, with burgers sales going up by 30 per cent on the back of a pledge that they are 100 per cent horse free.

John Ellison, a member of the Q Guild group of butchers, said: “We can’t believe how many beef burgers are flying off our selves. More and more customers are coming through the door.

“This has been a real win for not only us but the Q Guild as a whole. Our meat is sourced from local farms and we pride ourselves on this.”

Fellow Q Guild butcher David Lishman, of Lishman’s, of Ilkley, said: “We have seen a nice increase in trade over the last few weeks with people becoming more concerned about where they are buying their meat products from. I think this scandal is a wake-up call that has been a long time coming."

Tony Middlemiss, of Geo Middlemiss & Son butchers in Otley, was more cautious. He said: “We’ve had a slight increase in trade since this began, but nothing dramatic.

“Generally, I don’t think people are too bothered about it and the supermarkets are so powerful, and have so much influence, they can persuade people it’s not really a problem and that ‘there’s no risk’, which is what we keep hearing.

“But if this happened to a local butcher they’d have been out of a job, quite rightly, straight away.”

The scandal first broke last month when Irish food inspectors reported they had detected horsemeat in some burgers stocked by a number of UK supermarkets last month.

And last week it emerged that some Findus beef ready meals contained 100 per cent horsemeat.

Bradford-based Morrisons said all its products are being tested and so far have all come up negative for cross contamination.

Its spokesman said: “We operate in a different way to to other supermarkets. We have our own abattoirs, so we see the cattle arrive and see the meat at the other end.”

Yesterday, it was revealed some Tesco Everyday Value Spaghetti Bolognese packets contained 60 per cent horsemeat.

The Bishop of Bradford, the Right Reverend Nick Baines, has insisted there is “nothing to be sniffy about” eating horsemeat, however he said people deserved to know when they do so.

Writing in a blog he said: “How can there possibly be any objection to eating one animal rather than another?

“Whenever I find myself in Central Asia, we eat nothing but horse. It is the staple meat on the Steppe. And it is fine, if you like that sort of thing.

“Surely the real controversy ought to be about misrepresentation and obligation. If a company tells us its lasagne is made of beef, then it should moo rather than neigh.”

 

Comments(41)

Avro says...
8:12am Tue 12 Feb 13

Good to see a revival of trade at local Butcher.
Lets hope it continues and that more people turn their backs on the Supermarkets as they come to realise the behind the scenes antics in the name of profit!

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JAtkinson says...
8:17am Tue 12 Feb 13

I always use butchers when buying a decent bit of meat - far, far better quality and often cheaper; certainly better value for money.

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geoffrey scholes says...
9:23am Tue 12 Feb 13

we buy horse meat from our coop
butcher. great stuff!

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geoffrey scholes says...
9:24am Tue 12 Feb 13

our coop is in switzerland

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Joedavid says...
10:13am Tue 12 Feb 13

I noted butchers in Supermarkets wear something on their heads but Market Keith Taplin is not doing, hope this was just an oversight for T&A photo.

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Joedavid says...
10:16am Tue 12 Feb 13

The horse meat in with beef is a Frozen ready meal problem with supermarkets so we are ok with beef in other forms, or aren't we?

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Apollo says...
10:30am Tue 12 Feb 13

Good to see the start of a backlash against supermarkets.

It does not matter whether the horsemeat 'only' found its way into frozen, processed, ready meals and burgers etc.

The point is that the supermarkets did not care enough about you as a customer to check and they still took your money.

Think about that the next time.

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Albion. says...
10:38am Tue 12 Feb 13

This will be merely a blip in the ceaseless progress of the large retailer, before rushing to your local butcher, check him out on the scoring system, some of them leave a lot to be desired.
Now that many people have sampled horse meat (unwittingly) perhaps we might see more of it for sale openly, I understand it is usually less expensive than other varieties.

Report this post »

Joedavid says...
10:50am Tue 12 Feb 13

Albion. wrote:
This will be merely a blip in the ceaseless progress of the large retailer, before rushing to your local butcher, check him out on the scoring system, some of them leave a lot to be desired.
Now that many people have sampled horse meat (unwittingly) perhaps we might see more of it for sale openly, I understand it is usually less expensive than other varieties.
Scoring system?
Is this on the internet?

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Rambo says...
10:51am Tue 12 Feb 13

Albion. wrote:
This will be merely a blip in the ceaseless progress of the large retailer, before rushing to your local butcher, check him out on the scoring system, some of them leave a lot to be desired.
Now that many people have sampled horse meat (unwittingly) perhaps we might see more of it for sale openly, I understand it is usually less expensive than other varieties.
Yup. If this scandal affected say a local restaurant or independent business, you know it would ruin them. With big companies people will go flocking back when the incident has died down.

I've eaten horse several times abroad. Its lean and delicious, similar to beef in many ways and just our faddy ways as a nation when it comes to eating that put people off. Like when I watch Come Dine With Me and I see grown adults react to food like children, refusing to eat meat on a bone, won't even try offal etc.

And I find a massive irony people are buying these ready meals that are pumped full of preservatives, chemicals, all sorts of crap that is contributing to the cancer levels in the country, and what they are most revolted about is the horse meat...

Report this post »

Albion. says...
10:58am Tue 12 Feb 13

Joedavid wrote:
Albion. wrote:
This will be merely a blip in the ceaseless progress of the large retailer, before rushing to your local butcher, check him out on the scoring system, some of them leave a lot to be desired.
Now that many people have sampled horse meat (unwittingly) perhaps we might see more of it for sale openly, I understand it is usually less expensive than other varieties.
Scoring system?
Is this on the internet?
http://www.scoresont
hedoors.org.uk/

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webshow says...
11:15am Tue 12 Feb 13

Support local businesses & boost your local economy. I wouldn't touch supermarket meat products ever again.

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bradfordian says...
11:41am Tue 12 Feb 13

Have always bought meat from the butchers and always will. you get so much more meat in weight than pre-packed meat. At least you know you are not being sold horsemeat or as now been revealed donkey meat by your butchers.I buy British meat which has not travelled half way round the world.

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Outraged English Subject says...
12:44pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Findus ready meal for £1.29 the people that buy this muck deserve all they receive.

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Apollo says...
12:54pm Tue 12 Feb 13

The other thing which has emerged quite clearly is that if one single factory in Belgium or Luxembourg produces the same ready meals for Tesco, Findus, Aldi, Lidl etc should they not all be the same price?

I bet they are not by some considerable difference in price.

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Joedavid says...
1:04pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Apollo wrote:
The other thing which has emerged quite clearly is that if one single factory in Belgium or Luxembourg produces the same ready meals for Tesco, Findus, Aldi, Lidl etc should they not all be the same price?

I bet they are not by some considerable difference in price.
Buying power, quantity of order, quality of packets etc.

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Old Bald Eagle says...
1:07pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Will I be supporting my local butcher? Actually, no I won't, as there isn't one in Wyke!!

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Old Bald Eagle says...
1:07pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Will I be supporting my local butcher? Actually, no I won't, as there isn't one in Wyke!!

Report this post »

basil fawlty says...
1:38pm Tue 12 Feb 13

What this scandal has exposed is that the big producers and supermarkets cant be trusted. The problem is not just that it was horse meat disguised as beef, the fact is that the bef could therfore have been replaced with just about anything, for example condemned contaminated meat.
In this case it was clearly easy to disguise horse as beef, but what about all the other processed foods such as burgers, sausages, chicken nuggets etc where the so called 'meat' is already of a dubious source? Clearly inscruplious manufacturers will be able to disquise all manner of disgusting and illegal ingredients in these products.

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Michael Manus says...
1:50pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Rambo wrote:
Albion. wrote:
This will be merely a blip in the ceaseless progress of the large retailer, before rushing to your local butcher, check him out on the scoring system, some of them leave a lot to be desired.
Now that many people have sampled horse meat (unwittingly) perhaps we might see more of it for sale openly, I understand it is usually less expensive than other varieties.
Yup. If this scandal affected say a local restaurant or independent business, you know it would ruin them. With big companies people will go flocking back when the incident has died down.

I've eaten horse several times abroad. Its lean and delicious, similar to beef in many ways and just our faddy ways as a nation when it comes to eating that put people off. Like when I watch Come Dine With Me and I see grown adults react to food like children, refusing to eat meat on a bone, won't even try offal etc.

And I find a massive irony people are buying these ready meals that are pumped full of preservatives, chemicals, all sorts of crap that is contributing to the cancer levels in the country, and what they are most revolted about is the horse meat...
Eating horse meat isn't the problem, the health scare is. Bute is an anti inflammatory which can not be used on animals whose meat is to be used for human consumption.

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legallyblonde says...
3:38pm Tue 12 Feb 13

My butcher in Harden is great he always has the best meat.

regarding the horsemeat - its lucky they have substituted horse for beef - imagine the outcry had they been putting cats and dogs in the food chain - not impossible given the lack of tests that have been carried out it seems. .

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truebfd says...
3:45pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Eating horse meat because they do so abroad, does not make it right!!! They eat dogs and cats in China and Korea, so does that mean that we should?
Our horses are pets, just like cats and dogs and no way should they be eaten or it become ok to do so in England? and what about all the drugs that may have been consumed in their lifetime, Bute, wormers, antibiotics, calmers etc etc you happy to eat that too???

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Outraged English Subject says...
3:48pm Tue 12 Feb 13

legallyblonde wrote:
My butcher in Harden is great he always has the best meat.

regarding the horsemeat - its lucky they have substituted horse for beef - imagine the outcry had they been putting cats and dogs in the food chain - not impossible given the lack of tests that have been carried out it seems. .
Just hold that thought, more revelations to be announced in the weeks to come. I can’t see if it’s true that criminals are involved why they would just substitute horse meat for beef. Other meats must be involved.

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Outraged English Subject says...
3:50pm Tue 12 Feb 13

truebfd wrote:
Eating horse meat because they do so abroad, does not make it right!!! They eat dogs and cats in China and Korea, so does that mean that we should?
Our horses are pets, just like cats and dogs and no way should they be eaten or it become ok to do so in England? and what about all the drugs that may have been consumed in their lifetime, Bute, wormers, antibiotics, calmers etc etc you happy to eat that too???
Agree.

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Breen says...
3:55pm Tue 12 Feb 13

This quote sums up the whole Horse Meat scandal..........

Writing in the Times, food critic Giles Coren bemoaned the public's lack of knowledge about what is in their food. "What on earth did you think they put in them? Prime cuts of delicious free-range, organic, rare breed, heritage beef, grass-fed, Eton-educated, humanely slaughtered, dry-aged and hand-ground by fairies...?"

LOL- Can't beat it

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Thee Voice of Reason says...
4:20pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Always eat Halal, then you know it's what it says on the tin.

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Not so simple says...
4:57pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Thee Voice of Reason wrote:
Always eat Halal, then you know it's what it says on the tin.
Lol. I wonder how many halal monitoring organisations there are in the UK and Ireland. Each claims to be more halal then the other. last year i saw an article in an asian paper which raised serious questions of the various halal monitors or rather the lack of.

Personally The Jewish Kosha standard of monitoring the food supply is probably a much better and more informed choice as everything is double checked rather then doubled up for profit.

Then again if certain sections found out their food was not as halal as they first thought, then atleast there are plenty of claims companies to pursue the various offenders ;-)

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Outraged English Subject says...
4:59pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Not so simple wrote:
Thee Voice of Reason wrote:
Always eat Halal, then you know it's what it says on the tin.
Lol. I wonder how many halal monitoring organisations there are in the UK and Ireland. Each claims to be more halal then the other. last year i saw an article in an asian paper which raised serious questions of the various halal monitors or rather the lack of.

Personally The Jewish Kosha standard of monitoring the food supply is probably a much better and more informed choice as everything is double checked rather then doubled up for profit.

Then again if certain sections found out their food was not as halal as they first thought, then atleast there are plenty of claims companies to pursue the various offenders ;-)
Like the Prisoners and the school children have! ;-)

Can’t even trust Halal meat.

Kosher meat is the best but expensive.

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Joedavid says...
5:02pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Thee Voice of Reason wrote:
Always eat Halal, then you know it's what it says on the tin.
Not sure what you are saying here.
But I did look it up horse meat can be eaten as halal.

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mrsmithy says...
5:15pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Yes halal meat is fine, halal doner meat contains pork sold by muslims to muslims, the voice of reason knows its what it says on the tin because the halal authority were present when the pig was slaughtered!

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Gemzki-Lou says...
5:32pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Ill stick to Morrison's - They have their own Abbatoire and have been cleared of the checks.... Guaranteed to Horse business there....

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Gemzki-Lou says...
5:33pm Tue 12 Feb 13

I ate the Horse burgers from tesco - .... They gave me the trotts.... im in a stable condition now tho ; )

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Joedavid says...
5:46pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Gemzki-Lou wrote:
Ill stick to Morrison's - They have their own Abbatoire and have been cleared of the checks.... Guaranteed to Horse business there....
None of the frozen meals sold there made in France then?
Where have the brands of frozen meals come from sold at Morrisons?

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jh137 says...
5:55pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Outraged English Subject wrote:
Findus ready meal for £1.29 the people that buy this muck deserve all they receive.
Muck??? This ready meal @ £1.29 (cheaper available) is probably meant for 1 but will serve 2 people with a bit of salad and chips(i KNOW this). If its microwaveable it works out £1 per person. Most people buy these type of meals as they know exactly how much they cost and its easier to budget...get real! There is nothing wrong with horse meat but they're entitled to have beef if it says beef!

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Outraged English Subject says...
6:47pm Tue 12 Feb 13

jh137 wrote:
Outraged English Subject wrote:
Findus ready meal for £1.29 the people that buy this muck deserve all they receive.
Muck??? This ready meal @ £1.29 (cheaper available) is probably meant for 1 but will serve 2 people with a bit of salad and chips(i KNOW this). If its microwaveable it works out £1 per person. Most people buy these type of meals as they know exactly how much they cost and its easier to budget...get real! There is nothing wrong with horse meat but they're entitled to have beef if it says beef!
My wife and I have never purchased a ready meal in our lives; neither did our parents or our adult progenies. It is merely the way we were taught. I do appreciate that people are restricted to what they can purchase by financial constraints. I would like to offer you my unreserved apologises for my comment, no offence was intended.

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collos25 says...
7:58pm Tue 12 Feb 13

The majority of meat in so called local butchers is bought by them in vacuum sealed pre packed plastic bags,who knows where it has come from not the butchers thats for certain.So there some horse meat in some products so what Aldi frozen Lasgnes taste super so do their frikadellas.

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Mik_e says...
8:55pm Tue 12 Feb 13

A lot of people seem to be losing sight of the fact that it is not just the horse meat that may be a problem, but the drugs that may be in the meat. There is no traceability regarding the horses or what drugs they may have been injected with. I have bought meat at the local butchers for years, as it is far better quality and often cheaper than supermarkets.

Report this post »

truebfd says...
11:31am Wed 13 Feb 13

Michael Manus wrote:
Rambo wrote:
Albion. wrote:
This will be merely a blip in the ceaseless progress of the large retailer, before rushing to your local butcher, check him out on the scoring system, some of them leave a lot to be desired.
Now that many people have sampled horse meat (unwittingly) perhaps we might see more of it for sale openly, I understand it is usually less expensive than other varieties.
Yup. If this scandal affected say a local restaurant or independent business, you know it would ruin them. With big companies people will go flocking back when the incident has died down.

I've eaten horse several times abroad. Its lean and delicious, similar to beef in many ways and just our faddy ways as a nation when it comes to eating that put people off. Like when I watch Come Dine With Me and I see grown adults react to food like children, refusing to eat meat on a bone, won't even try offal etc.

And I find a massive irony people are buying these ready meals that are pumped full of preservatives, chemicals, all sorts of crap that is contributing to the cancer levels in the country, and what they are most revolted about is the horse meat...
Eating horse meat isn't the problem, the health scare is. Bute is an anti inflammatory which can not be used on animals whose meat is to be used for human consumption.
And do you think that by saying it ok to eat horse meat that you are free from such "crap or chemicals". You have no idea what is given to a horse in it's lifetime, unless you are a horse owner you will not appreciate what chemicals and drugs are given to them during their life, I can assure you most of these you would not be happy to eat!

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mickhoreseman says...
6:27pm Mon 18 Feb 13

I notice that the worry about horsemeat is if it comes from an animal that has been treated with "bute" and that not the horsemeat found has been son treated. However as a horse owner I know that my horse has been treated with two other things that make it unacceptable for use in the human food chain. I have seen no mention of tests being carried out for these.

It is clear that food is very cheap £1.29 for a ready meal doesn't leave a lot of money to pay for quality ingredients when you've taken into account transport, storage, packaging, marketing, buisness rates, staff wages and a dozen other overheads and not forgetting a profit margin. You get what you pay for, no matter how well it's dressed up

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Joedavid says...
7:15pm Mon 18 Feb 13

mickhoreseman wrote:
I notice that the worry about horsemeat is if it comes from an animal that has been treated with "bute" and that not the horsemeat found has been son treated. However as a horse owner I know that my horse has been treated with two other things that make it unacceptable for use in the human food chain. I have seen no mention of tests being carried out for these.

It is clear that food is very cheap £1.29 for a ready meal doesn't leave a lot of money to pay for quality ingredients when you've taken into account transport, storage, packaging, marketing, buisness rates, staff wages and a dozen other overheads and not forgetting a profit margin. You get what you pay for, no matter how well it's dressed up
Just because you pay more does not necessary mean it is a better quality product, might only be better packaging and name.
One thing you will note it all went back to same food factory in France.

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mickhoreseman says...
10:18pm Mon 18 Feb 13

You have a good point. It is clear that the food industry is happy to sell us any old cr*p if it can get away with it. Interestingly the EU banned the use of mechanically recovered meat i.e. when the butcher has finished cutting off the decent cuts of meat the food industry then blasted off what was left clinging to the bone (meat, gristle, fat, nerve tissue etc) with high pressure water jets. This ban came in early last year and the loss of this cheap filler material may have led to the adulteration of beef products with the much cheaper horse meat.

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