Contaminated Meat

Animals
1

I say contaminated? off, iffy, rank, stinking....


Our cooking/cleaning/washing lady purchased a hunk of lamb from a local ( well known ) Supermarket chain in our locality. It was in the 'fresh' but nearing best before date ( Nov 7th ) frigo that poor people frequent, or discerning customers as we like to call them.


It was a sizeable piece, as we were entertaining some friends who happen to be tax inspectors


( it's not what you know etc.) We do like to freak out our visitors with the old "Yes a dessert from Yorkshire IS eaten with the main meal etc."


When CCWL opened the packaging it was, to say the least, malodorous. We checked the dates again, and decided that a good wash ( the meat, not ourselves ) might resolve the problem.


So spuds a roasting, Yorkies risin', phrase books at the ready, wine a chillin' and a breathin'...the guests arrive early. Don't panic! is our motto, so whilst the kids are bisousing, I help CCWL horse the meat out of the oven. She says to me...smell that!, whilst carving off a slice to taste... My immediate response was the proverbial "hweep" noise...which from experience normally precedes a Karl Heinz "Rummenigge"... or whatever chunder noise one makes.


What do you think? sez 'er...I sez "It's rank, love!" Panic! quick decision. OH pops out ( this is Sunday BTW ) for chicken bre*sts from the Sparip. I proceed to entertain, a little tap-dancing, couple of blows on Tibetan nose flute ( I play by ear ) etc. the Salon in the interim smells like a concentration camp on a hot day. ( dreadful expression I know but it was BAD )


None-the-less a pleasant evening was had by all, and we've shaved a couple of hundred off the tax bill.


Today, I went to the Supermarket with a honking bag of dead flesh... and my angry head on.


Demanded to see the Director of the Shop, which I did. Suffered a bit of attitude, do you have a receipt? have you had it analysed (?) and the butcher was summoned. Nice guy... I explained the situation, and he said what do you want to exchange it for?


I said you are missing the point...you could a killed us!!! I don't want compensation I want you to explain why you are selling iffy meat? He explained that the supply chain is 'long' and that they haven't control over end quality. He went onto say that out of the tonnes of produce they sell per annum a good 10% is suspect. I gave a little 'hweep' and explained that in the UK there is a severe problem with criminal activity, where food foodstuffs destined for incineration finds its way back to the chain and subsequently the dinner table.


The resolve: I am offered a massive joint ( nice ) of Prime beef, which I accept. he tosses the offensive article straight into the poubelle, and flicks me a wry smile when I suggested a little sandwich before final disposal. ( I hope final! )


So we pick up a baguette and some baked beans ( like you do ) and before exiting, also pick up a book on Vegetarian cooking.


I was most surprised to hear from them that this sort of occurrence was not a rarity, and was treated with a C'est la Vie shrug.


Anyone else fine this appalling?


Photos to follow...Bon App!



2

oh gawd, has my contaminated meat raised its ugly head again?

3

Ive just read and watched a film on slaughter houses....and feel quite ill. Am going to be eating vegan at least for the present....even less chance of E Coli then!

4

Hi Carol, Not really what I am trying to say is that although Europian law is the same for both countries it is interprated in diffrent ways where as in one country something is highlighted it is something completly diffrent in the other,What I would say is to make sure that your hygiene in the home and from the shops is kept at a peak wash the meat carefully before cooking and make sure that core temps are good for suspect or high risk meats (in France the only meat that you can get E coli (vetec 157) from is Steak hache) that statment is so untrue,

5

I was hoping to see my contaminated meat drop down....but it still seems quite poplier.

6

Thank you

7

for those of us who are lost in France, it is the simple British things, for many of us, that make us miss the old country.

Toilet seats, Queues, Happy smiling Cockney folk, and probably above all the elixir of life,

lemme hear you go Ah

8

...As the horror and nightmares of this saga melt into a distant memory, I am reminded that good will prevail over evil and that one day we will not have to eat iffy food all all.

We'll all be sucking sucking on sanitised tubes of paste flavoured with whatever we desire.

In the meantime here is a snapshot of what Michelle created using only the second big joint out of our peace offering from the butchers from hell.

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Wayne...I dont quite understand....you seem to be saying the hygiene situation is much better in France...but the meat less reliable...is that right?

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Hello Wayne,

Thanks for taking the time to highlight the hygiene issues you have encountered first hand ( no joke intended ). Clearly, what you are saying is, it is sometimes the 'invisible' dangers which may the biggest culprits of illness ( and worse ).

I have no idea myself, but I wonder if there is anywhere some sort of detection device, which would via some 'light source' highlight the 'invisible' even at microscopic levels? I'm sure there must be such tools, which if so, could be brought into the workplace, even the domestic situation?

Any ideas?

11

I am sorry that I missed this blog at the time but I took a job at a duck factory,having worked with meat all my life I thought it would be an easy way to earn in France,and for me it is an easy way to earn (only intrim) and the first couple of weeks was hard work while they sussed me out at 50 years old I had to work like I was 20 again but that has all passed and now I am treated like any other non French person working in the factory,My history of work I am a Graduate Member to the Institute of Meat (master butcher-artisan boucher)I also studied at Manchester university and have the Royal Society of Health Meat inspection (Red meat and White meat)basicaly there is not much that I have missed about meat in the last 38 years (started in a butchers shop at the age of 12 cleaning ) that from barn to bog,Well to do my work now I close my mind to what I have learned over the years switched off and going through the motions to cut a long story short I am always shocked at the way higiene is looked at in France,Last week I had an accident in work and cought my unpretected finger on a sharp hook I told one of the many chefs who cleaned my finger and wrapped it in nice blue plasters wrote my details in the accident book and stopped me from going back to work although it was time to stop anyway,my finger as you would expect was painful that evening so I decided to take the next day off work,went to my employer (intrim)told them what had happend etc,They told me that I had to go to the doctors so that I had a certificate for that day off work,I went to the doctors he had a good look at my finger that was feeling better by now and looking clean ,I told him that I would be returning to work the next day he looked at me in horror and told me that the company would not want me back in my condition until he signed me fit to work again I will have to wait a week until my cut has properly closed,For me it makes sence as to stop any cross contamination to me or to the vast quantities of meat we handle (if any one is wondering that if my cut becomes infected there is a risk that I could contaminate the meat with staphylococcus ).The reason I am saying all this is because in my experiance this would never happen in the UK I have seen people with horrid infected fingers and cuts taking antibiotics and still working in the meat industry,I also knew a younge man of 18 years who was working in a slaughterhouse who was so proud of his new tattoo that he worked with it uncovered ,five days after he had the tattoo he died of septicaemia,I always say its not what you can see and smell that will hurt you with meat and food it is what you cann`t see or smell that will make you very ill and I will say be very carful with all meat bought in France it is not the same as buying meat in the UK

12

just an update. OH is just about to cook the second of 3 joints she has taken from the SIZABLE piece of top prime beef , which was our 'peace offering' from the naughty supermarket. It's all food, food, food right now.

13

wow Carol, you seem to have found the elusive Survive France Network 'like' button.

But seriously, I hope you have a lovely time tonight.

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like!

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@ Carol

Dooooooo have a lovely meal. ( don’t forget to wash your hands )
and don’t say:

"This chicken is rubbery"
you’ll only get;
“Oh, fank yoo wery mush”

god I’m funny!

16

think you are safe to eat.....I am off out...for a chinese meal.....pushing all thoughts of previous discussions out of my mind!

17

Any more Contaminated Meat horror stories before we have us tea?

18

Well, CONTAMINATED MEAT has received 2777 Views. Which in my view is a lot of interest in rotten food.

The post has spawned another great thread by Master Multi-Tasker Carol Norwell

The Veggie Challenge

and it seems we could go off on yet another tangent: Sweet Dreams!

So a big thanks to all who have shown interest in this subject.

And remember this: "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach".

unless you are a heart surgeon.

19

Still off topic, but tossing this one back in here, if'n anyone wants to play, no cheating. Then straight back to Rotten Meat.

I was thinking abut the stuff we cram down our throats and wondered how much 'marketing' has an affect on our food intake and or purchasing habits? I have NOT researched the following. Please, without research, let us hear your comments.

a) Is it true that after years of trying to persuade the populous otherwise, that 'Margarine', as a butter substitute,due to budgetary constraints and farming difficulties during WW2, is, as it is processed, worse for the body thanreal Boota?

b) Eating an apple a day is in fact a dangerous habit, in that it causes stomach ulcers, and tooth rot?

c) How much money do YOU think was wasted from the 'eggs marketing board's budget whilst fire-fighting the fall out from Edwina's famous gaff?

d) Which well known breakfast cereal was it that tested the nutritional content of its product, to find that eating the carton was 'better' for you?

e) Are you surprised to find out that eating chocolate can act as a weight loss ingredient?

f) How many calories would you guess there are in the average hi street bought Muffin? ( no cheating )

g) What is the single most affective action that is responsible for Ozone layer depletion?

h) Is it true that if you dropped a human tooth into glass of COKE it would dissolve completely within 12 hours?

i) Did you know that certain brown breads a have the roughage ( bran ) stripped out, to be replaced by a brown dye?

Urban myths? or fact? Do YOU have any surprising facts about food?

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oh right, they were Dime Bars..where did I get Diam from?