Food Network Canada is airing an episode of Top Chef Canada on “French Cuisine” where competing chefs will be preparing horse meat. The program is due to air May 16th.
If this offends you, please let them know how you feel about their use of horse meat, the horrors of slaughter that produces the meat, and the scientifically tested and proven toxic residues potentially carcinogenic to humans that exists in it.
You can email them at feedback@foodtv.ca.
You can also post comments on Food Network Canada’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/foodnetworkcanada referencing the Top Chef Canada May 16th show using horse meat. We understand that they are deleting comments as quickly as they are posted, so you may wish to keep re-posting. They are not deleting comments. They are under separate tabs. Please see in comments below by Jessica who moderates their pages.
If you have a Twitter account, tweet your comments @TopChefCanada @FoodNetworkCA. A number of tweeters are including #boycott. We leave that to your discretion.
Tuesday's Horse 
The Care2 article: “Top Chef Canada’s Horse Meat Episode Sparks Outrage” was #1 (the most popular) early this morning. It’s now fallen to #3. I’d like to see it stay in the top spot fas long as possible. The longer it stays, the more people will see it and, hopefully, understand and investigate for themselves. It may also prompt Care2 to write more on the subject. I don’t know if the ranking is based on “hits” (visits), votes, or comments. IMO, doing all three would be best.
This is the Care2 News page: http://www.care2.com/causes-news/
In case the article drops out of the 5 most popular, this is the direct link:
http://www.care2.com/causes/animal-welfare/blog/top-chef-canadas-horse-meat-episode-sparks-outrage/
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I will not ever watch Top Chef Canada due to their Horse meat episode and urge others to boycott the show!
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Please join together as we boycott Top Chef as well as Top Chef sponsors. Be sure to drop both the producers and the sponsors a short note why you will no longer be supporting their product/show.
Join us on Facebook to find out more about the boycott:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-Top-Chef-Protect-the-Horses/182296598489582
Currently I personally have only gotten really bland form letters back or no response at all when I contacted everyone. But I feel that if enough of us speak up, they will have to take notice.
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I received an automated reply today to my complaint about the horse meat episode to air on “Top Chef Canada” on Monday. The usual BS and how they care about our opinions but basically “screw you and yours”.
You are right Vivian, it seems the food industry has no morals or ethical concern about anything these days. It doesn’t matter about animal abuse or opinions of concerned individuals. It is simply a money game that has overwhelmed the human food chain. It saddens me deeply that we have stooped to this level – a level lower than hell for these innocent creatures as I believe hell would be a more amenable existence for them. At least they would have a semblance of a life, albeit miserable, but this industry as it exists today transcends any notion of life. Disgusting.
And I agree Linda, if they are going to air this debacle then at least warn the public so that they have a choice.
I am appalled that a Canadian show would air this given the sensitivity to the horse slaughter issue. Shame on them and on the people that will indulge in watching it.
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The more this type of situation occurs, the more it appears to me that the food industry cares no more for their consumers than the animals they torture and kill to provide the meat.
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GE Monogram is another sponsor. There’s contact info at the bottom of their Home Page. http://www.monogram.com/
Sorry, Jessica, but I had to put this up, because I WILL NOT change my opposition to inhumane horse slaughter (See comment above re: Temple Grandin), or the scientifically PROVEN dangers of consuming toxic horsemeat, especially horsemeat contaminated by Bute.
Bute is used to alleviate pain in horses, and is administered to racehorses as a matter of course to MASK pain so they can run … at least until they break down. It’s widely used in the U.S and Canada, and NEVER leaves the meat! That’s why the EU is moving to ban imports of American horsemeat from Canadian slaughterhouses until the horses are microchipped and have “passports” which include all medications they’ve been given over their lifetimes.
You might want to read this “Fact Sheet: Medications and US Horsemeat”: http://www.vetsforequinewelfare.org/medications.php
It begins: “Veterinarians for Equine Welfare (VEW) welcomes the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s new policy regarding equine health and medical treatments, but also remains cautious about its actual implementation and impact.”, and contains: “It is the strong position of VEW members that absent any formal regulation or structure by the United States with regard to medications and food safety withdrawal schedules for equines entering the food chain, horsemeat derived from any U.S. horse can never be regarded as safe for human consumption.”
So will the horsemeat your chefs intend to use come from American horses, or Canadian horses that have been medicated? Can they tell the difference? If so, how?
IMO, if you’re still going to air this episode, you should add a warning at the beginning so your viewers will be informed. Then they can make up their own minds.
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Maybe not a Warning, per se, but at least a Statement or Opinion.
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Hi there,
I work at Food Network Canada and am a moderator for their fan page and the Top Chef Canada fan page. There was some confusion early on from users that comments were being deleted when in fact they were just in a separate area of the fan page. We have not deleted any commentary about this subject. Please check these tabs for where any missing commentaries may have landed:
http://www.facebook.com/foodnetworkcanada?sk=wall&filter=1
http://www.facebook.com/TopChefCanada?sk=wall&filter=1
Thanks!
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We sincerely appreciate your letting us know Jessica. Thanks!
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Thanks, Jessica. I went to both links and read all the comments. While you may still air the show, at least some of your fans now know more about the potential dangers of consuming horsemeat (especially by children re: aplastic anemia), and the horrors of horse slaughter as well.
Facilities meant for processing traditional livestock don’t work for horses, because their natures are TOTALLY different. Not even animal slaughter’s “go-to-gal”, Temple Grandin, has come up with a “humane” way to slaughter a horse, and has suggested pursuing alternatives to deal with the “unwanted” horse issue instead. That certainly tells ME something!
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Thanks, but why would Food Canada even think of airing this regardless of the sponsor which now I realize is “President’s Choice” – Loblaw, my favorite grocery store – no more.
This is simply disgusting. I don’t care whether it is “authentic French cuisine or not”; there is no place for this in this country.
It is bad enough that we allow the US slaughter horses in and kill our own for the foreign markets – clearly because big MONEY is involved. May those who eat this meat suffer from the toxins concealed in the tissues – sorry couldn’t help that remark.
I beg “Top Chef Canada” not to air this…it is both a distasteful mark on our country’s reputation in the “civilized world” and a reprehensible, exploitive action for what some sick individuals call entertainment. Respect the values of the people who live in this country for God’s sake.
The day reality shows disappear can’t come soon enough.
Bletch..makes me hurl.
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Absolutely DISCUSTING….
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Re: Facebook. They obviously can’t defend themselves, and don’t want to inform their readers – who have every right to offer their own opinions. I’d like to know who sponsors their show. Informing sponsors is often a good way to influence broadcasts.
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See my comment below. We didn’t actually delete any comments. There was a bit of confusion over where the comments go.
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