Monday, February 8, 2016

Horsemeat plant banned in New Mexico

A judge has ordered a ban on horsemeat slaughter for human consumption in New Mexico.
That’s the finishing touch on a lengthy battle to open a plant there.

District Judge Francis Mathew wrote that “Valley Meat Company, LLC, Dairyland Packing, Inc., Mountain View Packing, LLC, and Ricardo De Los Santos, non-parties Jose Hernandez, Ryoichi Okubo, and D’Allende Meats, LLC, and any person or entity in privity with the above, all are permanently enjoined from slaughtering horses for human consumption, and from manufacturing, selling or distributing horsemeat products for human  consumption in New Mexico.”

In 2013 the State of New Mexico sued Valley Meat over plans to slaughter horses in Roswell, N.M., and sell the products overseas.

The sale of horsemeat for human consumption is banned in the United States, but the prohibition is subject to annual congressional review. There is no federal law prohibiting the transport of horses across American borders for slaughter in Canada or Mexico. 

There are four Canadian plants, two in Alberta and two in Quebec.

Some American companies have tried to start up horse slaughter plants in recent years but none has succeeded. However, thousands of horses are transported each year to Mexico and Canada for slaughter.


Most of the meat is exported to Japan and Europe.