Horses for courses

Published on 09/02/2013 00:00

The Findus horse meat in the lasagne row (your report, 8 
February) should surely give the Scottish farming industry a 
welcome boost.

No longer can we rely on the wording on packaging as to 
contents, nor have any faith in the EU or UK inspection 
processes.

The public have been woefully let down by both and have been victims of greed.

The Saltire and the British farming symbols on products have taken on a new significance and hopefully supermarkets will demand more locally sourced products from their suppliers so that trust can be restored.

Bob MacDougall

Kippen

Stirlingshire

Let’s not limit our outrage to the slaughter of horses when more than a billion equally sensitive and wonderful animals are killed and eaten in the UK every single year, the vast majority raised and even transported in abysmally cruel ways.

Why would anyone choose to eat piglets that have had their teeth and tails removed 
without any pain relief or 
chickens that have spent their lives in abject filth, unable to spread a single wing, when the shops are full of grains, pasta, beans, rice, nuts, fruits, and more varieties of ­vegetables than there are meals in a year?

All animals, from horses to hens, end up in terrifying abattoirs. As Paul McCartney says: “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian.”

Ben Williamson

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

All Saints Street

London

With the recent discovery of horse meat in processed food sold as beef it is difficult to ­believe that unscrupulous processors would limit their deception to just beef products. This brings into question processed food in general.

It seems that irrespective of what rules and regulations are in force with regard to what does and doesn’t go into food, there are still some food processors prepared to cut costs and deliberately and knowingly ignore them.

There were already many 
serious concerns about processed food and the various 
additives used in their preparation, but as an ultimate precaution housewives should be advised to go back to basics in food preparation so they know exactly what is in the food being prepared for the table.

Dennis Grattan

Mugiemoss Road

Aberdeen