No mane course? Why it's not just Tesco's burgers putting horse meat off the menu

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Tesco's gristly horseburgers were never destined for gourmets, but one celebrated New York chef revolted animal-lovers the world over last September by declaring that a dish at his new "haute-cuisine" restaurant would be horse tartare - and we featured the story on IV Drip.

Under pressure from protest groups and a petition on Change.org the chef, Hugue Dufour, relented; but, had he served up a platter of pony on opening night, the consequences could have been disastrous, according to Slate.

The real hazard here, says James McWilliams, is "the hazard that horse meat poses to public health". Many of the horses that end up in slaughterhouses are thoroughbreds from the racing industry, or prolific breeders. Racing in particular exposes horses to overbreeding and extensive drug use - "Indeed", says McWilliams "many racehorses essentially become pharmaceutical dumping grounds throughout their artificially stimulated, sedated, and numbed lives."

Tasty. We can be thankful, then, that the reaction to Tesco's burger blunder is such a blow to horsemeat's reputation, we're unlikely to see the dish on these shores anytime soon.