South America Argentina Argentina is a producer and exporter of horse meat, but it is not used in local consumption and is considered taboo.
Chile In
Chile, it is used in
charqui. Also in Chile, horse meat became the main source of nutrition for the nomadic indigenous tribes, which promptly switched from a
guanaco-based economy to a horse-based one after the horses brought by the Spaniards became feral and bred naturally. Although not nearly as common as beef meat, horse meat can be readily available in some butcheries throughout the country. It is generally less expensive than beef and somewhat associated with lower social strata.
Uruguay In
Uruguay horses are appreciated for their companionship and horse meat shouldn't be consumed, as it constitutes a taboo that dates back from Spaniard ancestry at colony times. There's a saying that preaches:
a lomo de caballo criollo se hizo la patria (on criollo horse back the nation was made). However the country produces horse meat to be exported to
France and
China. Also a common belief is that horse meat is locally used to make salami. Slaughtering horses are fierce untamed colts.
North America Canada A small horse meat business exists in
Quebec. Horse meat is also for sale in
Granville Island Market in
Vancouver, where according to a
Time reviewer who smuggled it into the United States, it turned out to be a "sweet, rich, superlean, oddly soft meat, closer to beef than venison". Despite this, most of Canada shares the horse meat taboo with the rest of the
English-speaking world. This mentality is especially evident in
Alberta, where strong horse racing and breeding industries and cultures have existed since the province's founding, although large numbers of horses are slaughtered for meat in Fort MacLeod, and certain butchers in Calgary do sell it. In 2013, the consumer protection show
Kassensturz of Swiss television
SRF reported the poor animal conditions at Bouvry Exports, a Canadian horse meat farm in Fort MacLeod, Alberta.
Migros, the primary importer of horse meat into Switzerland, started working with Bouvry to improve their animal welfare, but in 2015 Migros cut ties with Bouvry because though improvements had been made, they had not improved sufficiently. Migros had "set itself the ambitious goal of bringing all suppliers abroad up to the strict Swiss standards by 2020".
Mexico , Mexico was the second-largest producer of horse meat in the world. By 2009, it became the largest producer of horse meat in the world. Domestic consumption is usually attributed to non-human consumption such as carnivorous zoo animals. All horse meat produced in the United States since the 1960s (until operations ceased in 2007) was intended solely for export abroad, primarily to the European Union. However, a thriving horse exportation business is going on in several states, including Texas, primarily exporting horses to slaughterhouses in either Canada or Mexico. Restriction of human consumption of horse meat in the U.S. has involved legislation at local, state, and federal levels. Several states have enacted legislation either prohibiting the sale of horse meat or banning altogether the slaughter of horses. California outlawed in 1998 via
ballot proposition the possession, transfer, reception, or holding any horse, pony, burro, or mule by a person who is aware that it will be used for human consumption, and making the slaughter of horses or the sale of horse meat for human consumption a
misdemeanor offense. In 2007, the Illinois General Assembly enacted Public Act 95–02, amending Chapter 225, Section 635 of the state's compiled statutes to prohibit both the act of slaughtering equines for human consumption and the trade of any horse meat similarly to Texas Agriculture Code's Chapter 149. Other states banning horse slaughter or the sale of horse meat include New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Mississippi. In addition, several other states introduced legislation to outlaw the practice over the years, such as Florida, Massachusetts, New Mexico, and New York. At the federal level, since 2001, several bills have been regularly introduced in both the House and Senate to ban horse slaughter throughout the country without success. However, a budgetary provision banning the use of federal funds to carry out mandatory inspections at horse slaughter plants (necessary to allow interstate sale and exports of horse meat) has also been in place since 2007. This restriction was temporarily removed in 2011 as part of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2012 but was again included in the FY2014 Agriculture Appropriations Act and subsequent federal budgets, hence preventing the operation of any domestic horse slaughter operation. Until 2007, only three horse meat slaughterhouses still existed in the United States for export to foreign markets, but they were closed by court orders resulting from the upholding of aforementioned Illinois and Texas statutes banning horse slaughter and the sale of horse meat. The taboo surrounding horse meat in the United States received national attention again in May 2017 when a restaurant in the
Lawrenceville section of
Pittsburgh served a dish containing
horse tartare as part of a special event the restaurant was hosting with
French Canadian chefs as guests. The restaurant, which otherwise does not serve horse meat (which is legal to serve and consume in
Pennsylvania), received an inspection and a warning from the
USDA not to serve horse meat again. A
Change.org petition subsequently went up to advocate making serving horse meat illegal in Pennsylvania. From the 1920s and through the 1950s or 1960s, with a brief lapse during World War II, horse meat was canned and sold as dog food by many companies under many brands, most notably
Ken-L Ration. Horse meat as dog food became so popular that by the 1930s, over 50,000 horses were bred and slaughtered each year to keep up with this specific demand.
Europe Austria '' () in
Vienna Horse
Leberkäse is available in special horse
butcheries and occasionally at various stands, sold in a bread roll. Dumplings can also be prepared with horse meat, spinach, or Tyrolean (a sour milk cheese). Such dumplings are occasionally eaten on their own, in a soup, or as a side dish.
Belgium In Belgium, horse meat ( in
Dutch and in French) is popular in a number of preparations. Lean, smoked, and sliced horse meat fillet ( or ; in French) is served as a
cold cut with sandwiches or as part of a cold salad. Horse steaks can be found in most butchers and are used in a variety of preparations. The city of
Vilvoorde has a few restaurants specialising in dishes prepared with horse meat. Horse sausage is a well-known local specialty in
Lokeren (
Lokerse paardenworst) and
Dendermonde with European recognition. Smoked or dried horse/pork meat sausage, similar to salami, is sold in a square shape to be distinguished from pork and/or beef sausages. A Flemish region around the
Rupel River is also famous for a horse
stew named , made out of shoulder chuck (or similar cuts), brown ale, onions, and mustard. is typically served with fries, mayonnaise, and a salad of raw
Belgian endive.
Bulgaria Horse meat is served in some restaurants in Bulgaria, as the preferred way of consuming it is in the form of steaks and burgers. Still being far from a meat for mass consumption, horse meat is regaining its popularity, which it had in the '60s and '70s of the past century, when it was also consumed in sausages and
tartare.
Finland ,
Finland Horse meat is available in butcher shops and shops specializing in meats but it can sometimes be found in supermarkets, especially in ground form. The most common way to eat horse meat is in sausage form, especially (
Mettwurst), a cured and smoked sausage which often contains pork, beef and horse meat. Finns consume around 400g of horse meat per person per year and the country produces around 300–400 thousand kilograms of meat per year, while importing around 1.5 million kilograms per year from countries like Canada, Mexico or Argentina. No horses are bred for meat production and there are stringent laws against using meat from a horse that has been medicated or injected with antibiotics. Using meat from a horse that has been treated with non-equine medicine or has not been inspected by a veterinarian is banned outright.
France '' of horse meat, in France In France, specialized butcher shops () sell horse meat, as ordinary butcher shops were for a long time forbidden to deal in it. However, since the 1990s, it can be found in supermarket butcher shops and others. Horse meat was eaten in large amounts during the 1870
Siege of Paris, when it was included in
haute cuisine menus. Horse fat is highly rated for making
french fries, though rarely used nowadays. In 2023, the last remaining horse butcher in Paris described the meat as "going out of fashion" as he announced his retirement.
Germany Although no taboo comparable to that in the English-speaking world exists, German law used to require that horse meat be sold only by specialized butchers (). This requirement was retracted in 1993, but only a small minority of ordinary butchers have since begun to sell horse meat. , most horse meat was still sold by the specialists, some of whom also delivered by mail order. Many regions of Germany have traditional recipes that include horse meat. In the
Rhineland around Cologne and Düsseldorf, restaurants often offer the traditional
Sauerbraten in horse meat, typically with a beef variant to choose from. Other traditional horse meat dishes include the
Swabian (a joint of roast meat prepared similarly to roast beef),
Bavarian sausage varieties such as and as well as , a meatloaf dish. The
2013 meat adulteration scandal started when German authorities detected horse meat in prepared food products including frozen lasagna, where it was declared fraudulently as beef. The mislabeling prompted EU authorities to speed up publication of European Commission recommendations for labeling the origin of all processed meat.
Hungary Horse meat has historically been consumed in Hungary. Horse meat consumption continued even after conversion to Christianity in the 11th century (horse meat consumption was condemned by Christianity). Horse meat consumption declined substantially after the Mongol invasion (AD 1241–1242) and disappeared by the mid-sixteenth-century Ottoman occupation. In
Hungary, horse meat is primarily used in salami and sausages, usually mixed with pork, but also in goulashes and other stews. These products are sold in most supermarkets and many butcher shops.
Iceland In
Iceland, horse meat is both eaten minced and as steak, also used in
stews and
fondue, prized for its strong flavor. It has a particular role in the culture and history of the island. The people of Iceland supposedly were reluctant to embrace Christianity for some time largely over the issue of giving up horse meat after
Pope Gregory III banned horse meat consumption in 732 AD, as it was a major part of many pagan rites and sacrifice in Northern Europe.
Horse meat consumption was banned when the pagan Norse
Icelanders eventually
adopted Christianity in 1000 AD/
Common Era. The ban became so ingrained that most people would not handle horse meat, let alone consume it. Even during harsh famines in the 18th century, most people would not eat horse meat, and those who did were castigated. In 1757, the ban was decriminalised, but general distaste for horse meat lasted well into the 19th century, possibly longer, and its consumption often regarded as an indication of poverty. Horse meat is not very popular (3.2% of Iceland's meat production in 2015), although this has more to do with culinary tradition and the popularity of equestrianism than any religious motivation.
Ireland Horse meat is not widely consumed in Ireland. It was DNA sampling efforts of Irish-company
IdentiGEN that led to the discovery of horse meat in the European food chain, leading to the
2013 horse meat scandal. However, a 2024 investigation by
RTÉ News disclosed that even after improvements made since 2013, meat traceability issues still remain. They uncovered deliberate alteration of horse identities to obscure that certain horses had already been deemed "unfit for human consumption". This was done through changing
microchips and
horse passports, and in some cases by transporting live horses to other countries where new identities were obtained.
Italy horse meat
butcher Horse meat is especially popular in
Sicily. In Sicily it is part of the traditional historical cuisine of the entire island (especially in the
Catania area). Sicily is also the Italian region with the greatest production. In the rest of Italy it remains isolated to some typical dishes. Horse meat is used in a variety of recipes: as a stew called (typical of
Verona), served as steaks, as
carpaccio, or made into
bresaola. Thin strips of horse meat called are popular. Horse fat is used in recipes such as
pezzetti di cavallo. Horse meat sausages and salamis are traditional in various places. In Sardinia, or and for horse meat) is one of the most renowned meats and sometimes is sold from kiosks with bread – also in the town of
Sassari is a long tradition of eating horse steaks ( in the local dialect). Chefs and consumers tend to prize its uniqueness by serving it as rare as possible.
Donkey is also cooked, for example as a stew called and as meat for sausages e.g. . The
cuisine of Parma features a horse meat
tartare called , as well as various cooked dishes. In Veneto, the consumption of horse meat dates back to at least 1000 BC to the
Adriatic Veneti, renowned for their horse-breeding skills. They were used to sacrifice horses to their goddess
Reitia or to the mythical hero
Diomedes. Throughout the classical period, Veneto established itself as a centre for horse breeding in Italy; Venetian horses were provided for the cavalry and carriage of the
Roman legions, with the white Venetic horses becoming famous among Greeks and Romans as one of the best breeds for
circus racing. As well as breeding horses for military and farming applications, the Venetics also used them for consumption throughout the Roman period, a practice that established the consumption of horse meat as a tradition in
Venetian cuisine. In the modern age, horse meat is considered a luxury item and is widely available through supermarkets and butcheries, with some specialised butcheries offering only selected cuts of equine meat. Prices are usually higher than beef, pork, or any other kind of meat, except game. specialty: horse , smoked and salt-cured "frayed threads" of meat In the province of
Padua, horse meat is a key element of the local cuisine, particularly in the area that extends southeast from the city, historically called
Saccisica. Specialties based on horse meat constitute the main courses and best attractions of several typical restaurants in the zone. They are also served among other regional delicacies at the food stands of many local festivals, related to civil and religious anniversaries. Most notable is the , held annually in the small town of
Legnaro and totally dedicated to horses, included their consumption for food. Some traditional dishes are: • : tiny frayings of horse meat, dried and seasoned; to be consumed raw, can be a light and quick snack, more popular as a topping on other dishes: ex. pasta, risotto, pizza, salads, etc. ) with grilled polenta • : a thin soft horse steak, cut from the diaphragm, variously cooked and dressed on the grill, pan or hot-plate • : colt steak, whose preparation is similar to • : also said , small chunks of horse meat, stewed with onion, parsley and/or other herbs and flavours, potatoes, broth, wine, etc., usually consumed with
polenta, much appreciated also is a similar stew made of donkey meat, served in traditional
trattorie, with many variations for different villages: , , , • : horse
ham, served in very thin slices • or : various kinds of
salami, variously produced or seasoned, sometimes made of pure equine meat, sometimes mixed with others (beef or pork) •
Bigoli : a typical form of fresh pasta, similar to thick rough spaghetti, dressed with sauce like
Bolognese sauce, but made with minced horse meat • : horse stew, seasoned with sauce, vegetables and various peperoncino, widely used in the
Salento In southern Italy, horse meat is commonly eaten everywhere – especially in the region of
Apulia, where it is considered a delicacy. It is a vital part of the () in
Bari and of the
pezzetti di cavallo, a stew with tomato sauce, vegetables and chili, popular in
Salento. According to British food writer
Matthew Fort, "The taste for donkey and horse goes back to the days when these animals were part of everyday agricultural life. In the frugal, unsentimental manner of agricultural communities, all the animals were looked on as a source of protein. Waste was not an option."
Malta In
Malta, horse meat () is seared and slowly cooked for hours in either tomato or red wine sauce. A few horse meat shops still exist and it is still served in some restaurants.
Netherlands In the Netherlands, smoked horse meat () is sold as sliced meat and eaten on bread. , a southern Dutch stew, is made with horse meat as main ingredient. There are also beef-based variants. Horse meat is also used in sausages ( and
frikandel), fried fast food snacks and ready-to-eat soups.
Norway In Norway, horse meat is commonly used in cured meats, such as and , and less commonly as steak, . In pre-Christian Norway, horse was seen as an expensive animal. To eat a horse was to show one had great wealth, and to sacrifice a horse to the gods was seen as the greatest gift one could give. When Norwegians adopted Christianity, horse-eating became taboo as it was a religious act for pagans, thus it was considered a sign of heresy. These days, consumption of horse meat is considered controversial, but not uncommon.
Poland Older horses are often exported while still alive to Italy to be slaughtered. This practice is considered controversial. Horses in Poland are treated mostly as companions, and the majority of Poles are against live export for slaughter. Poland has a tradition of eating horse meat (e.g., sausage or steak
tartare.) The consumption of horse meat was highest at times when other meat was scarce, such as during the
Second World War and the
communist period that followed it.
Sweden Smoked, cured horse meat is widely available as a
cold cut under the name (literally hamburger meat). It tends to be very thinly sliced and fairly salty, slightly reminiscent of deli-style ham, and as a packaged meat, may list horse meat (as ) as its primary ingredient. Several varieties of smoked sausage made from horse meat, including , are also quite popular, especially in the province of
Dalarna, where they are produced. , similar to salami or
metworst, may substitute for those meats in sandwiches.
Switzerland Horse meat is widely available and consumed in Switzerland, where no taboo exists regarding it. The laws on foodstuffs of animal origin in
Switzerland explicitly list
equines as an animal type allowed for the production of food. Horse steak is widely offered in restaurants. A marinated, smoked
deli meat specialty known as '''' is made here with beef or horse meat. Horse meat is also used for a range of sausages in the German-speaking north of Switzerland. As in northern Italy, in Switzerland's Italian-speaking south, local (sausages) may be made with horse meat. Horse may also be used in
fondue Bourguignonne.
United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, the slaughter, preparation, and consumption of horses for food is not against the law, although it has been rare since the 1930s, and horse meat is not generally available. A cultural taboo against consuming horse meat exists in the UK, although it was eaten when other meats were scarce, such as during times of war, as was
whale meat, which similarly failed to achieve popularity. The sale of meat labelled as horse meat in UK supermarkets and butchers is minimal, and most actual horse meat consumed in the UK is imported from continental Europe, predominantly from the
south of France, where it is more widely eaten. Horse meat was featured in a segment of a 2007 episode of the
Gordon Ramsay series
The F Word. In the segment,
Janet Street-Porter convinced locals to try horse meat, though not before facing controversy and being forced to move her stand to a privately owned location. The meat was presented as having a similar taste to beef, but with less fat, a high concentration of
omega-3 fatty acids, and as a safer alternative in times of worry regarding
bird flu and
mad cow disease. The segment was met with skepticism from many viewers after broadcast for various reasons, either because some felt the practice was cruel and against social norms, or simply a belief that if the taste was really on par with other meats, then people would already be eating it. A company called Cowley's Fine Foods has also launched a horse jerky range called My Brittle Pony. Horse meat may be eaten without the knowledge of the consumer, due to accidental or
fraudulent introduction of horse meat into human food. A 2003
Food Standards Agency investigation revealed that certain sausages, salami, and similar products such as
chorizo and
pastrami sometimes contained horse meat without it being listed, although listing is legally required. The
2013 horse meat scandal involved multiple products being recalled from shelves due to unlabelled horse meat in amounts up to 100% of the meat content.
Asia-Pacific Australia Australians do not generally eat horse meat, although they have a horse slaughter industry that exports to EU countries. In the
Australian meat substitution scandal of 1981, it was revealed that both horse and
kangaroo meat has been intentionally mislabeled as beef for export. Horse meat exports peaked at 9,327 tons in 1986, declining to 3,000 tons in 2003. They are at Peterborough in South Australia (SAMEX Peterborough Pty Ltd) and Caboolture Abattoir in Queensland (Meramist Pty Ltd). A British agriculture industry website reported that Australian horse meat production levels had risen to 24,000 tons by 2009. On 30 June 2010, Western Australian Agriculture Minister
Terry Redman granted final approval to
Western Australian butcher Vince Garreffa to sell horse meat for human consumption. Vince Garreffa is the owner of
Mondo Di Carne, a major wholesale meat supplier, which supplies many cafes, restaurants, and hotels in Western Australia. He commented that no domestic market exists for horse meat (all while a successful export market exists). The compendium also asserts, "to relieve toxins caused by eating horse meat, one can drink
Phragmites root juice and eat
apricot kernel." In southern China, local dishes include horse meat
rice noodles (; Pinyin: ) in Guilin and horse meat
hot pot (; Pinyin: ) in
Huishui County in
Guizhou Province.
Indonesia In
Indonesia, one type of
satay (chunks of skewered grilled meat served with spicy sauce) known as horse satay (
Javanese: ,
Indonesian: ) is made from horse meat. This dish from
Yogyakarta is served with sliced fresh
shallot,
pepper, and
sweet soy sauce. Horse is believed to be a source of strength and eating it is thought to increase a man's vitality.
Japan In
Japanese cuisine, raw horse meat is called or because of its pink color. It can be served raw as
sashimi in thin slices dipped in soy sauce, often with ginger, onions, garlic, and/or
shiso leaves added. In this case, it is called . is popular in some regions of Japan and is often served at
izakaya bars. Fat, typically from the neck, is also found as , though it is white, not pink. Horse meat is also sometimes found on menus for
yakiniku (a type of barbecue), where it is called or ; thin slices of raw horse meat are sometimes served wrapped in a
shiso leaf.
Kumamoto,
Nagano, and
Ōita are famous for , and it is common in the
Tōhoku region, as well. Some types of canned corned meat in Japan include horse as one of the ingredients. Aside from raising local draft horses for meat, Japan imports living horses (from Canada and France) and meat from several countries — the five largest horse meat exporters to Japan are Canada, Mexico, Italy, Argentina, and Brazil.
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan sausage on the right. The roasted meat tasted no different from roast beef. In
Kazakhstan and
Kyrgyzstan, horse meat is a large part of the diet, due mainly to the nomadic roots of the population. Some of the dishes include: • sausages called
qazı (kazy) and
chuchuk or made from the meat using the guts as the sausage skin, • made from hip meat, which is smoked and boiled, •
jal (or
zhal) made from neck fat which is smoked and boiled, • made from a section of the rectum that is smoked and boiled, • and which is kept as dried meat. () is salted horsemeat that smoked over
elm,
juniper or
meadowsweet.
Mongolia Mongolian cuisine includes salted horse meat sausages called that are produced as a regional delicacy by the Kazakhs. Generally, Mongols prefer beef and mutton (though during the extremely cold Mongolian winter, some people prefer horse meat due to its low cholesterol). It is kept unfrozen, and traditionally people believe horse meat helps warm them up. Other Asian nations import processed horse meat from Mongolia.
Philippines In the
Philippines, horse meat (, , or ) is a delicacy not commonly sold in
wet markets. It is prepared by marinating the meat in lemon juice, soy sauce or fish sauce, then fried and served with vinegar for dipping.
South Korea '' (horse meat tartare) In
South Korea, horse meat is generally not eaten, but raw horse meat, mostly taken from the neck, is consumed as a delicacy on
Jeju Island.
Tonga In
Tonga, horse meat is eaten nationwide.
Methodist missionary George Daniel wrote notably about a breeding pair left by
James Cook during his
second Oceanic voyage in Angaha close to Fuaʻamotu which were slaughtered not long after. ==See also==