Involuntary Hippophagia (1): Horsemeat, a view from Croatia

As our UK readers will know, Britain is currently reeling from the effects of an outbreak of  ‘Involuntary Hippophagia‘. (We hereby suggest that name.*) But not everyone agrees that eating horsemeat is inadvisable. If you’re going to eat meat, they say, then maybe horsemeat isn’t such a bad choice. For an example of this viewpoint see a recent ‘scientific and professional paper’ from Dobranić, V., A. Večkovec, M. Kadivc, and B. Njari from the University of Zagreb, Croatia (published in MESO, The First Croatian Meat Journal, Issue 4, July/ Aug. 2008) ‘HORSEMEAT AND HIPPOPHAGIA’

“A higher content of water, proteins and glycogens, and a smaller content of fat in horsemeat make it more suitable for nourishment, particularly of more demanding people, in comparison to pork or beef.”

“The geographic position and the breed structure of the horse population in Croatia provide good chances for a profitable production of horsemeat with possible export orientation.”

“It is evident that horsemeat is a valuable food of animal origin. In spite of a slight increase in the production of horsemeat in the world, as well as in Europe, the market demands are obvious. Geographical location, insufficient exploitation of waste pasture areas and the breed structure of the horse population in Croatia provide good chances for a profitable production of horsemeat with possible export orientation.”

*We offer, in addition to the name, this DEFINITION:

Involuntary Hippophagia:  Unintended ingestion of a horse, or part thereof