CEs column: Horses for courses

Television New Zealand’s ‘Close Up’ exposé of a supplier allegedly selling horse meat intended for cats and dogs to people to eat highlighted an illegal practice that carries health risks for people.

Food produced for pets is not allowed to be sold as being suitable for human consumption. The reason is not that pet food isn’t regulated. The pet food industry in New Zealand is certainly regulated.

Facilities processing animals for human or pet food both operate under registered risk management programmes. These programmes allow the operator to identify and control hazards and risks to the consumers of the products. Standards for businesses slaughtering and dressing meat for pet food are not the same. There are important differences which go to the end product’s ‘fitness for intended purpose’.

Cats and dogs are carnivores and clearly have different dietary requirements and immuno- tolerances than do people, and do not live as long. As well as being fed by us, their owners, many cats and dogs scavenge and hunt. These habits inevitably expose them to a range of potentially harmful bacteria that their immune systems tolerate, without the kinds of serious consequences people would face if we were exposed to similar foods in similar conditions. Because of the greater susceptibility we humans have for bacteria from foodborne disease, a higher level of hygiene is demanded when processing meat for human consumption.

Meat for pet food can be produced in premises that produce meat for human consumption or at pet food-only premises.

Slaughterhouses and processing facilities for food animals destined for our dinner tables are built to high standards of design and construction. The pet food from such slaughterhouses is generally meat that isn’t marketable for human consumption such as off-cuts, trimmings and certain offal. Once designated as pet food, it remains strictly separated from human food.

Facilities producing meat only for pet food do not have to operate at such strict levels of hygiene as long as the product they produce addresses the risks to pets.

Meat for human consumption is subject to more rigorous testing and inspection for harmful bacteria and chemical residues, like veterinary medicines. This inevitably adds to the cost of the end product – but it is the price we pay for a safe food supply. If you see heavily discounted meat for sale, it might be worth asking why it is so cheap. The horse meat featured on Close Up was just $20 for 6kg. At one market an actor working for the television show was sold 7kg of horse meat for just $10.

Food animals in New Zealand are treated and monitored throughout their lives with the end aim of entering the human food chain. Therefore, the use of any veterinary treatments such as antibiotics, fertility treatments or worming medicines are carefully documented and monitored.

Animals sent to slaughter intended as food for people have been subjected to stringent withholding periods after dosing with medicines so that any potential residues remaining in the meat are either undetectable, or within limits that contain very wide safety margins. Monitoring programmes are in place to make sure the meat produced complies fully with these rules and standards.

Meat for pets still has to be certified as ‘acceptable’, and is expected to meet withholding periods for any veterinary medicines that have been used.

The horse meat shown on Close Up looked lean and fresh and, if the abattoir’s risk management programme was being followed, would be entirely suitable for cats and dogs to eat. But just because it looks ok, doesn’t also make it safe for people to eat.

In short, the difference between meat for cats and dogs and meat for people is about safety, and that it has been produced to standards suited to its intended purpose – food for humans or food for pets.

Horse meat is apparently eaten in a popular Tongan dish called ‘loi hoosi’ which the television programme showed being sold in South Auckland markets. As far as I’m aware, most horse meat for human consumption slaughtered in New Zealand goes to export. There’s nothing to stop this currently exported meat being sold to consumers here – if they were willing to pay for it. This naturally raises questions about the origin of the horse meat that is being sold to people so cheaply at the markets.

If it seems too good to be true, it probably is, and should be avoided.

NZFSA has previously investigated the abattoir shown in this programme and found no evidence of wrongdoing. TVNZ has now handed over the footage it obtained and we are looking at this as part of our new investigation.