Kumamoto Prefecture horse meat actually comes from Canada

Basashi

The Asahi Shimbun reports that one company used shady methods to import horses and then sell their meat as famous Kumamoto prefecture horse meat:

According to the ministry and the Kumamoto prefectural government, Sankyo Chikusan sold 166 kilograms of horse meat to Shokuryu between June 2007 and August 2008. The meat came from horses imported from Canada and fattened in Kumamoto Prefecture for about three months before they were butchered.

Sankyo did not disclose the country of origin for the horse meat.

Shokuryu then sold the meat to Yamafu, again without revealing the country of origin. Yamafu sold the basashi meat at its store in Karatsu as that produced in Kumamoto Prefecture.

The Ministry of Agriculture called on Kumamoto Prefecture to punish the companies involved, but they ended up only receiving warnings. Apparently non-imported horses only account for a couple hundred of the nearly eight thousand horses slaughtered for meat every year in Kumamoto Prefecture.

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http://seek2play.com Calan

As a Canadian who likes horses to an extent, this is kinda saddening. For one, I know a lot of people who would be really upset that horses are eaten at all. Moreover, the fact that they’re using Canadian horses and claiming they’re high-quality Kunamoto horses… that’s just kinda weird.

I imagine, however, that the “fattening for 3 months” could have included a diet change which they have “specially formulated” to both increase meat production and make better meat, so perhaps it’s not ENTIRELY a sham?
Bob

High quality Kumamoto horse meat and plain old Canadian horse meat.

No one noticed the difference?

Maybe the fattening process carried out in Kumamoto for the last three months before butchering makes all the difference.
Bob

James@

I’m not getting this – I need some clarification:

Apparently non-imported horses only account for a couple hundred of the nearly eight thousand horses slaughtered for meat every year in Kumamoto Prefecture.

“non-imported” horses i.e. “domestic” (Japanese) Kumamoto horses – only account for a few hundred.

The rest of the 8000 or so horses are imported – non Kumamoto?

How can it be advertized as Kumamoto horsemeat if the vast majority of the horses come from abroad? Is it the fattening process that makes it Kumamoto horsemeat?

Bob

http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200811010049.html

Qualification as Kumamoto is in the fat, and the majority of horses were from abroad.

ashredrum

Hows horse meat taste Japan?
Bob

Same as everywhere else…

I’ve only tried it once. Tastes like cold raw beef, it was slightly frozen – not hard, just a little crunchy. Not high on my list of delights, but you’ve got to try new foods at least once and be open to new experiences, otherwise, well, you’re just like every other human – You’re born, you live, you die.

‘Carpe diem’ – Seize the day (and if it tastes good, go for seconds!)
http://www.victorymanual.com Alex

Tastes like stringy beef. I ate it sashimi-style.
http://sleepytako.blogspot.com sleepytako

I get it hot and smoked from a udon shop near my house. Amazingly good.
canadaguy

Woot us! We finally made it to J-Probe.

Kumamoto Prefecture horse meat actually comes from Canada

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