# West Wales Meat Plant Raided



## MrPotts (12 February 2013)

Aberystwyths Farmbox Meats Ltd raided over the horse meat scandal and all operations suspended.


----------



## amandap (12 February 2013)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21434077


----------



## hackneylass2 (12 February 2013)

Interesting reading.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2004/04_april/27/taro_naw_meat.shtml


----------



## canteron (12 February 2013)

.... and is anyone surprised?  The closed down the local abattoirs, where local people kept an eye on them.  Opened up huge industrialised abatoirs with imported labour and wow, what a surprise, bad things happen!  When will someone wake up and smell the roses, in the meantime, poor poor animals, I bet no one gives a blind bit of notice to looking after their welfare, they are too interested in lining their pockets.


----------



## Alec Swan (12 February 2013)

So where were the Foods Standards Agency?  As usual,  ensuring that they kept their jobs by failing to fulfil their roles!  It calls for a certain technique. 

Alec.


----------



## Alec Swan (12 February 2013)

canteron said:



			.... and is anyone surprised?  The closed down the local abattoirs, where local people kept an eye on them.  Opened up huge industrialised abatoirs with imported labour and wow, what a surprise, bad things happen!  When will someone wake up and smell the roses, in the meantime, poor poor animals, I bet no one gives a blind bit of notice to looking after their welfare, they are too interested in lining their pockets.
		
Click to expand...

This has nothing to do with animal welfare.  It's all to do with the traceability of our food,  and guess what,  for the last 3 years, £millions has been spent and waisted on EID tagging of our own livestock.  To what end,  someone tell me that.

Alec.


----------



## Holly Hocks (12 February 2013)

canteron said:



			.... and is anyone surprised?  The closed down the local abattoirs, where local people kept an eye on them.  Opened up huge industrialised abatoirs with imported labour and wow, what a surprise, bad things happen!  When will someone wake up and smell the roses, in the meantime, poor poor animals, I bet no one gives a blind bit of notice to looking after their welfare, they are too interested in lining their pockets.
		
Click to expand...


On another point I thought that only Turners and Potters were licensed horse abbatoirs?  So not only have they been selling meat wrongly but have they also been slaughtering horses illegally?  Please correct me if I'm wrong - it's just from what I've read on here in the past I thought that only Turners and Potters could slaughter horses....


----------



## hackneylass2 (12 February 2013)

From what I've read today it wouldnt surprise me if a lot of the meat did come from 'small abattoirs'.....or what were usually called knacker yards.

Purely conjecture  of course but if you can be prosecuted for trading illegally slaughtered unfit meat, causing unnecessary suffering to animals and failing to dispose of animal byproducts in the correct way wouldnt you think that the powers that be would keep an unusually close eye on you? Dont you think a life ban on meat production and or trading would be fitting?
Leopards rarely change their spots! and Govt agencies never seem to learn lessons.


----------



## Alec Swan (12 February 2013)

Holly Hocks said:



			....... - it's just from what I've read on here in the past I thought that only Turners and Potters could slaughter horses....
		
Click to expand...

There are actually 12 abattoirs licensed to deal with horse,  in the UK.  The two which you've mentioned are the only two which manage to continue.

Alec.


----------



## Holly Hocks (12 February 2013)

Alec Swan said:



			There are actually 12 abattoirs licensed to deal with horse,  in the UK.  The two which you've mentioned are the only two which manage to continue.

Alec.
		
Click to expand...

Thank you Alec.


----------



## MrPotts (12 February 2013)

Just to clarify, the premises in bow street only process the meat, ie it comes in as a carcass, is boned and goes out to restaurants, take aways ready for use. They don't actually slaughter the animal.


----------



## MrPotts (12 February 2013)

Is potter's still in service? I thought there were houses where the abattoir stood?


----------



## MurphysMinder (12 February 2013)

Holly Hocks said:



			On another point I thought that only Turners and Potters were licensed horse abbatoirs?  So not only have they been selling meat wrongly but have they also been slaughtering horses illegally?  Please correct me if I'm wrong - it's just from what I've read on here in the past I thought that only Turners and Potters could slaughter horses....
		
Click to expand...

I too thought this was the case.  In fact in an article about Turnerson horse and country tv it states this.
http://www.horseandcountry.tv/news/2013/01/30/campaigners-protest-against-abusive-abattoir

Its very confusing, I wonder does it mean they are the only 2 licensed to keill for human consumption?


----------



## Alec Swan (12 February 2013)

MurphysMinder said:



			I too thought this was the case.  .......

Its very confusing, I wonder does it mean they are the only 2 licensed to keill for human consumption?

Click to expand...




Alec Swan said:



			There are actually 12 abattoirs licensed to deal with horse,  in the UK.  The two which you've mentioned are the only two which manage to continue.

Alec.
		
Click to expand...

Alec.


----------



## Clodagh (12 February 2013)

We have a local slaughterhouse that can do horses but they are only for animal foods.


----------



## MurphysMinder (12 February 2013)

So does that mean that Peter Boddy wasn't even licensed to slaughter horses, not withstanding the fact he was passing them off as beef?
At least people are now going to be aware of how much of our meat is sourced abroad and travels thousands of miles before it hits the supermarkets.  According to our local paper tonight some of the smaller butchers in the area have seen their sales increase threefold over the last week.


----------



## zigzag (12 February 2013)

So does this mean, that even if it is labelled British beef , it may not be?


----------



## MrPotts (12 February 2013)

MM, I'm not sure that Peter Boddy slaughterhouse has even passed the carcasses off as beef to Farmbox meats - I think they know the difference between the two by the number of ribs alone.


----------



## MrPotts (12 February 2013)

Zigzag, the meat from Farmbox would be going to takeaways and curry houses, not supermarkets.


----------



## firm (12 February 2013)

Already some products labeled British or Irish beef were not. So who knows what to trust?  Is organic really organic?  
Murphysminder the company Farmbox meats, that Peter Boddy sold to, has connections with a previous dropped prosecution for selling illegal meat. There is a link posted above by hackneylass.


----------



## MurphysMinder (12 February 2013)

Hmm not sure Mr Potts, according to this article Peter Boddy is under suspicion too.
http://www.itv.com/news/story/2013-02-12/meat-investigators-raid-plant/

Its just a shame red tape caused the closure of so many of the slaughterhouses behind butchers shops, at least you knew what you were getting then.


----------



## MrPotts (12 February 2013)

Totally agree MM, we still produce our own, but unfortunately most people can't do that.


----------



## MrPotts (12 February 2013)

Can't edit on my phone but wanted to add, I think PB has slaughtered them legitimately and sold them as horse. He even says that the FSA wanted to see his records which presumably means they wanted to see who he has sold the horse meat to.


----------



## zigzag (12 February 2013)

Think I will go vegetarian!


----------



## FairyLights (12 February 2013)

Its enough to turn anyone veggie


----------



## MrPotts (12 February 2013)

There you are MM, PB's are only licenced for slaughter & export of horses, hence being in trouble.


----------



## Holly Hocks (12 February 2013)

zigzag said:



			Think I will go vegetarian!
		
Click to expand...

I already am - I don't criticise those who eat meat though - my OH is a meat with every meal person, and I make a wicked steak and kidney pie for him (well at least I think it's steak but who knows now?).  But I don't even eat veggie ready meals - even with those, you can't be completely sure what's in them...  I prefer to cook from scratch and then at least I choose what goes in there!

I don't even like the taste of meat - how anyone can eat chicken and think that it tastes nice, I'll never know!  YUCK!!


----------



## TrasaM (12 February 2013)

Time for me to return to the High St butcher shops. The steak and meat I've bought from Tescos has not been very good anyhow and I have two local butchers who are really good. 

I've not read any comments from the beef producers but I'd expect them to be pretty cross over this. All the effort and cost of admin keeping records for beef cattle, and for why?  And why are we even surprised this has happened. Remember the outfit who were found 'cleaning up' chicken meat intended for disposal or animal use and selling it back to the supermarkets. Yummy!


----------



## Beausmate (12 February 2013)

MrPotts said:



			Is potter's still in service? I thought there were houses where the abattoir stood?
		
Click to expand...

It's still going.  There has been a lot of new building going on just down the road from there though, on the old Norton Fitzwarren estate.


----------



## Sugar_and_Spice (13 February 2013)

Zigzag I *think* the law is that if its packaged in the UK it can be labelled as British, regardless of where it was reared or slaughtered.


----------



## Vintage (13 February 2013)

Alec Swan said:



			There are actually 12 abattoirs licensed to deal with horse,  in the UK.  The two which you've mentioned are the only two which manage to continue.

Alec.
		
Click to expand...

I've heard there are 5 which are licensed to process horse for human consumption?


----------



## MrPotts (13 February 2013)

Sugar & Spice, you're correct, a lot of lamb is sent from Scotland & England to Wales to be slaughtered and packaged so it can be sold as Welsh lamb for a premium price. The same applies to foreign meat.


----------



## Bertieb123 (14 February 2013)

I Will Tell you where, The front line staff have been cut, while the desk jobs have increased, all in the name of cost cutting and trying to help the meat industry go down the 'self 'regulation path, there are many front line staff very frustrated and predict things like this and worse, Unison can give more info on this.



Alec Swan said:



			So where were the Foods Standards Agency?  As usual,  ensuring that they kept their jobs by failing to fulfil their roles!  It calls for a certain technique. 

Alec.
		
Click to expand...


----------



## Pale Rider (11 May 2013)

I'm told that Peter Boddy has had his licence re instated following the FSA investigation.


----------



## Bertieb123 (12 May 2013)

Pale Rider said:



			I'm told that Peter Boddy has had his licence re instated following the FSA investigation.
		
Click to expand...

 Yes believe it been open for business for a few weeks, the investigation obviously showed they supplied horse meat to Farm Box Meat,  who I believe are being investigated in the Horse Meat scandal. Some times things are not how many would see, Peter Boddy were actually doing things that were not wrong and got caught up in the mess of the horse meat scandal,(supplied to someone who passed horse as beef) they are a multi species slaughter house, many will try and find things wrong with this though. I personally am glad that Peter Boddy is still open for slaughter of horses as it is a much needed service.


----------



## Pale Rider (13 May 2013)

Couldn't agree more, Bertieb123. I do though, think that all the hype by the FSA and press during the investigation, particularly surrounding the arrest of Peter Boddy was political, deliberate and uncalled for. The failed FSA trying to look effective, and an innocent person being cynically exploited. I hope an apology was made, not that this will be reported by the scumbag press.


----------



## Bertieb123 (14 May 2013)

Pale Rider said:



			Couldn't agree more, Bertieb123. I do though, think that all the hype by the FSA and press during the investigation, particularly surrounding the arrest of Peter Boddy was political, deliberate and uncalled for. The failed FSA trying to look effective, and an innocent person being cynically exploited. I hope an apology was made, not that this will be reported by the scumbag press.
		
Click to expand...

I hope an apology was made and compensation for loss of business, etc. there are many questions still to be answered here about the whole meat supply chain, also what lessons the higher end of FSA and Government have learned about the fiasco. There is going to be a public enquiry we are told but I suspect we will all only see the edited version of this!


----------



## MerrySherryRider (14 May 2013)

So the man is now being canonized for his services to the meat industry by some of you. LMOA !
 How very gullible. 

The FSA is not fit for purpose.

 Defra Has had to hand over its responsibility for animal prosecutions to the CPS because of their poor performance and refusal to prosecute abuse in slaughter houses.

No wonder no one knows what the food on their plate is.

It is not acceptable on any level. The meat industry is not fit for purpose and the only good news from this whole sorry affair, is that a significant number the public are changing their shopping habits.

As a previously life long meat eater, it has just occurred to me that since the scandal broke, my consumption of meat has declined to virtually zero. Good heavens, I think I'm a non meat eater. I love meat but I just don't want to eat it any more.
 TBH, I hadn't consciously noticed.


----------



## Pale Rider (14 May 2013)

I think canonized is a bit strange, stupid really.

But to be publicly humiliated wrongly is not right.

There was no need to turn the investigation into Peter Boddy into an American type drama was wrong just for the FSA to try and appear effective.


----------



## MerrySherryRider (14 May 2013)

Pale Rider said:



			I think canonized is a bit strange, stupid really.

But to be publicly humiliated wrongly is not right.

There was no need to turn the investigation into Peter Boddy into an American type drama was wrong just for the FSA to try and appear effective.
		
Click to expand...

The investigation is not over yet, furthermore the FSA has required guarantees from the business before allowing it to operate again and has warned that if it has sufficient evidence of non compliance it will not hestitate to withdraw its licence again.

That doesn't sound like innocence, it sounds like the FSA are monitoring them closely while they continue to investigate.

PR, your reference to the press as scumbags is a bit strange/stupid. Without investigative journalists highlighting many corrupt organisations we'd be a lot worse off.


----------



## Pale Rider (14 May 2013)

It sounds like the FSA is belatedly doing what it's supposed to, certainly doesn't sound like guilt or innocence or anything at all to me.
As far as press scumbags go, Murdoch or Kelvin Mackenzie or The Mail, or The Sun should cover that remark, lol.


----------



## MerrySherryRider (14 May 2013)

While I'm no fan of the shoddier excesses of the press, you cannot describe investigative journalism in its entirety as scumbag press.
 Coincidentally, the beginnings of investigative journalism highlighted the illegal practices of the slaughter houses and meat packing industry in America in 1906. Largely due to the expose of a journalist Upton Sinclair the Federal Meat Inspection Act was passed. 

And it was due to the 'scumbag' investigative journalists that Watergate was exposed....


----------



## Pale Rider (14 May 2013)

Investigative journalism no longer exists. Journalists are no longer allowed to investigate in any of the rags passing themselves off as newspapers. I long for the day when journalists stop toadying to press barons and find some integrity.


----------



## MerrySherryRider (14 May 2013)

Fortunately, that isn't quite so


http://www.private-eye.co.uk/paul_foot.php.


http://www.pulitzer.org/bycat/Investigative-Reporting


Credit where its due. The children in the sex exploitation rackets, the Stephen Lawrence family may not be so ready to rubbish the efforts of 
 investigative journalists.


Some high ranking police officers may not feel quite so thankful though.


----------



## Bertieb123 (14 May 2013)

Horse rider I certainly not gullible! Was simply trying to say if the man was wronged he should be compensated and his name cleared! And I did actually say I hope the FSA and Government etc. learn from this. As for eating meat that's your choice to no longer have it on your plate, I and many others do we all have a choice and my personal choice is to buy from my local butcher who actually rears animals for his shop and buys animals from local farmers. As for the presss don't even go there! The meat industry and big processers have been allowed to pull the wool over our eyes, wonder for how many years? 

Anyone heard the latest, well if you don't want to eat Goat don't buy processed lamb products, it has just emerged that products being tested during the horse meat scandal which were labelled Lamb actually contained a percentage of Goat, and some Chicken products were Turkey!



horserider said:



			So the man is now being canonized for his services to the meat industry by some of you. LMOA !
 How very gullible. 

The FSA is not fit for purpose.

 Defra Has had to hand over its responsibility for animal prosecutions to the CPS because of their poor performance and refusal to prosecute abuse in slaughter houses.

No wonder no one knows what the food on their plate is.

It is not acceptable on any level. The meat industry is not fit for purpose and the only good news from this whole sorry affair, is that a significant number the public are changing their shopping habits.

As a previously life long meat eater, it has just occurred to me that since the scandal broke, my consumption of meat has declined to virtually zero. Good heavens, I think I'm a non meat eater. I love meat but I just don't want to eat it any more.
 TBH, I hadn't consciously noticed.
		
Click to expand...


----------

