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Home Front: Culture Wars
N.Y. Cracks Down on Mystery Meats
2006-12-03
From Iguanas to Armadillos, New York State Cracking Down on Mystery Meats
NEW YORK Dec 2, 2006 (AP)— A food safety inspector noticed an interesting special posted in the front window of a market in Queens: 12 beefy armadillos.

In Brooklyn, inspectors found 15 pounds of iguana meat at a West Indian market and 200 pounds of cow lungs for sale at another store. A West African grocery in Manhattan sold smoked rodent meat from a refrigerated display case.

All of it was headed for the dinner table. All of it was also illegal.
All of it diverted to school lunch programs instead.
Authorities say the discoveries are part of a larger trend in which markets across New York are buying meat and other foods from unregulated sources and selling them to an immigrant population accustomed to more exotic fare. State regulators have stepped up enforcement, confiscating 65 percent more food 1.6 million pounds through September than they did in all of 2005.

In this ethnically diverse city, everything from turtles and fish paste to frogs and duck feet make their way onto people's plates. "At one time or another, we've probably seen about everything," said Joseph Corby, director of the state's Division of Food Safety and Inspection.
Posted by:.com

#27  So expect the capitalists amonnst the populations affected to open a pet store that features armadillos, rodents and other assorted "housepets."
think of it as a free range petshop.....
Posted by: USN,Ret   2006-12-03 23:52  

#26  AH9418, You are right, while you can't catch HIV from ingestion, there are viruses you can. And handling HIV infected raw meat with cuts on your skin would expose you to risk of infection.
Posted by: phil_b   2006-12-03 22:41  

#25  Any word yet on how the monkey brains slipped thru ?
Posted by: crazyhorse   2006-12-03 22:23  

#24  John's Elgin Market

Specializing in hickory smoked Snack Sticks and Jerky. Using our special blend of spices, custom smoking techniques, we are proud to now offer you our products with the convenience of using your home computer.

We've been specializing in custom smoking for over 120 years in the Chicagoland area, and are known for having the highest quality, and most unique, jerky and snack sticks you can find. You can choose from such favorites as Beef and Venison, or taste the exotic and try Elk, Buffalo, Kangaroo, or even Alligator.
Sticks Jerky
Mild Beef Stick Mild Beef Jerky
Fire Beef Stick BBQ Beef Jerky
Hotter-n-Hell Beef Stick Teriyaki Beef Jerky
Mild Venison Stick Black Pepper Beef Jerky
Fire Venison Stick Hot & Spicy Beef Jerky
Teriyaki Venison Stick Mild Venison Jerky
Venison Pepperoni Stick Elk Jerky
Mild Elk Stick Buffalo Jerky
Hotter-n-Hell Stick Caribou Jerky
Mild Buffalo Stick BBQ Venison Jerky
Mild Boar Stick BBQ Caribou Jerky
Black Pepper Boar Stick BBQ Elk Jerky
Mild Alligator Stick
Cajun Alligator Stick
Kangaroo Stick
Ostrich Stick
BBQ Pork Stick
BBQ Venison Stick
Posted by: 3dc   2006-12-03 22:01  

#23  Cultural thing...eggs with a red yolk are supposed to be healthier or good luck or something. Red eggs are sold at a markup, which makes it pretty obvious that someone is going to cheat. Being Chinese, they can't just use food coloring...nooooo...they have to save 10 cents a gallon and use Sudan IV instead. Yet another totally stupid cultural oddity from our friends the Chinese.
Posted by: gromky   2006-12-03 18:35  

#22  Am I the only one here thinking that perhaps the Iguana-meat seller should move to Florida?
Posted by: SJB   2006-12-03 17:49  

#21  The eggs were injected with a carcinogenic industrial red dye

Why?? I would never think of doing this in a million years.

Green, however, might work out well on St. Patrick's day! :-)

Anyway, sort of makes you think twice about the phrase "If we aren't supposed to eat animals, then why are they made out of meat?"
Posted by: gorb   2006-12-03 16:58  

#20  However, there is a huge Texas export market for Cattle heads; Mexicans hack off the soft flesh and peddle it in tortilla as "Tacos de Cabeza."

In reality, the facial muscles or "cheeks" are some of the most tender meat on the entire animal. Ask your fishmonger for salmon cheeks sometime. These small collops of meat are incredible. Same goes for the "collar" from around the neck area (on fish).

It has to do with muscular tissue that does not undergo extensive use. This is why mammilian leg meat tends to be tough and stringy whilst the finer cuts come from "high on the hog". If you wish to confirm this fact, merely try a salmon filet from the tail end and one from far forward on the fish.

Ok, now everybody go read The Jungle.

Upton Sinclair's exposé of Chicago's meatpacking industry was a prime mover in the enactment of food processing regulations. While certainly a fiction, it is nonetheless based largely in historical fact. Note the intense racism against "hunky Swedes".

My "favorite" part in the book was when the waste water reservoir next to the slaughterhouse would freeze over during winter and the plant would hack up the frozen effluent and sell it to the locals as block ice for food refrigeration purposes.

It's a tough call between "The Jungle" and Scrapple as to where the old saying came from; "Everything but the squeal."
Posted by: Zenster   2006-12-03 15:44  

#19  Armadillo=Possum on the half-shell.
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2006-12-03 15:12  

#18  MEOW!!! ARF!!!

That's cat and dog talk for THANK YOU to the authorities for trying to banish "mystery meat"...
Posted by: borgboy   2006-12-03 13:09  

#17  Yeah, they just pulled eggs and flatfish off the shelves here in my city in China. The eggs were injected with a carcinogenic industrial red dye, and the flatfish were fed toxic fertilizer to make them grow. Yippee.
Posted by: gromky   2006-12-03 11:57  

#16  Shipman,
have an Armadilo drumstick.
Yummie !
Posted by: Elder of Zion   2006-12-03 11:21  

#15  Ok, now everybody go read The Jungle.
Posted by: KBK   2006-12-03 09:53  

#14  Which is one of the four major food groups along with protein, carbohydrates and grease.

I'm very confused, I thought the four major food groups were cheese, beer, chocolate and porn.
Posted by: anonymous5089   2006-12-03 09:29  

#13  Damn, I hate these kind of threads. Now I'm really, really hungry.
Posted by: Shipman   2006-12-03 08:37  

#12  Ah, come on now. Do you really really know where that piece of meat slapped down on that plate at some fancy or not fancy restaurant or even nicely wrapped and packaged for retail sale came from? Ever check how many real meat inspectors there are against the number of distribution points between the living breathing donor and you? ItÂ’s all mystery meat. Which is one of the four major food groups along with protein, carbohydrates and grease.

It's people. Soylent Green is made out of people. - Det. Thorn
Posted by: Procopius2k   2006-12-03 08:27  

#11  Philb -- viral infections are nearly all caused by inhaling, eating or absorbing viral material into conjunctiva. This is how the commonest viral diseases, upper respiratory infections, common viral gastroenteritis, and influenza are contracted, which together have to make up the vast bulk of viral infections world-wide. Limiting viral exposure to "ingestion" - the taking of material as food, is too restrictive for this topic. Some exceptions to this are by needle injection, by implantation/transplantation of tissue, or when virii are transmitted by sexual contact as in HIV or Herpes simplex.
--- A 2004 The Lancet study Naturally acquired simian retrovirus infections in central African hunters confirmed:
simian retroviral zoonosis in people who have direct contact with fresh non-human primate bushmeat, and suggest[ed] that such zoonoses are more frequent, widespread, and contemporary than previously appreciated

The researchers went into the jungle of Central Africa, interviewed and tested > 1000 residents: 10 carried antibodies and 3 were infected by conventional medical standards, with a specific non-SIV/HIV simian retrovirus that could be tracked by DNA analysis back to specific types of simians which the victims recognized as "bush meat" and acknowledged being exposed to. The researchers also found other simian retroviruses have been transmitted to human beings there.
Due to economic and other social conditions in Africa, the exposure of people to simian viruses through "bush meat" is increasing, and this poses a danger for emergence of yet another deadly and hard-to-treat condition like HIV.
The theory as I've outlined it is neither PC nor BS. Exposure of humans to simian "bush meat" continues to be a danger to public health whether it occurs in Africa or NYC.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2006-12-03 08:24  

#10  Bor Kee Food Market has been caught selling unidentified red meat and mysterious fish paste

Well, that's very encouraging! If you're not eager to eat "unidentified red meat" and "mysterious fish paste", then, you've got no sense of mystery and adventure!
Posted by: anonymous5089   2006-12-03 07:50  

#9  "Exotic fare"? I have seen Mexican peasants carrying Iguana that they caught for food. They eat it as a last resort. Same with South Americans who eat Guinea Pigs (Cuy). However, there is a huge Texas export market for Cattle heads; Mexicans hack off the soft flesh and peddle it in tortilla as "Tacos de Cabeza."
Posted by: Sneaze Shaiting3550   2006-12-03 07:38  

#8  They're kinda primitive over there. Never heard of condoms, I guess. :-)
Posted by: gorb   2006-12-03 04:18  

#7  AH9418, viral infections are very rarely acquired through ingestion. I think you fell for the PC version of the origin of AIDS.

Somebody bonked a chimp.
Posted by: phil_b   2006-12-03 04:01  

#6  Was the mystery meat uncovered?
Posted by: Eric Jablow   2006-12-03 03:22  

#5  Monkey on a stick?
Posted by: Cloluper Ulalet7686   2006-12-03 03:00  

#4  INDONESIA-SE ASIA appears to be recovering > see what happens when you stop shopping = eating [long-dead] Carrion, the other Road-Kill!?
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2006-12-03 02:57  

#3  It's the chimp with an SUV that I'm concerned about!

I thought he was in jail after he gave up trying to find the synagogue.
Posted by: gorb   2006-12-03 02:15  

#2  Bush meat

Look, I know he's not doing well in the polls and blew the midterm elections but that's no reason to be so harsh.

a chimp with SIV.

Bah. That's nothing to worry over. It's the chimp with an SUV that I'm concerned about!
Posted by: Zenster   2006-12-03 02:07  

#1  This is important for national public health because the best theory for the interspecies jump of Simian Immunodeficieny Virus (SIV) to Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) occurred some time back in Africa when a human ate or processed infected "bush meat" - a chimp with SIV.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2006-12-03 01:22  

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