Here’s the pretext: retired race horses – and horses from similarly competitive backgrounds – are routinely carted from the United States to Canada or Mexico, where they are slaughtered, processed, and shipped to France (and other European countries) for human consumption.

This is not a new phenomenon. It has been going on for about as long as people could export food to other countries. But there’s a thorn in the hoof of would-be American horse meat traders – no one wants their product. Why? Because, for the most part, European health officials are worried that it’s too toxic to eat, because between 10 and 15% horses bound for European dinner plates are riddled with pharmaceutical chemicals.

Horses being shipped to Mexico and Canada are by law required to have been free of certain drugs for six months before being slaughtered, and those involved in their shipping must have affidavits proving that. But European Commission officials say the affidavits are easily falsified. As a result, American racehorses often show up in Canada within weeks — sometimes days — of their leaving the racetrack and their steady diets of drugs.

Because sometimes you need a reason not to eat a horse.

[Source : NYT]