Say whoa to worries about horsemeat

You know 2012 is going to be an interesting year when one of the first question I fielded this week was on horsemeat. In this case, I couldn't tell if the person was for or against: The questioner wanted to know if it would be available soon in Charlotte meat markets or if I knew any Charlotte chefs who were preparing it.

I'm not the only person getting horsemeat queries, apparently. Interest was triggered in November, when Congress passed a federal spending bill that included a provision lifting a five-year ban on inspecting facilities that slaughter horses.

Before horse fans get in a lather, bear a couple of things in mind: First, while lifting the ban allows the USDA to inspect a facility if one were opened, it provided no money for the USDA to do inspections. The agency's budget is so tight, that's not considered likely. Second, while there has been no U.S. facility to process horsemeat since 2007, it is allowed in Canada and Mexico and has been allowed the whole time the U.S. ban has been in effect. Most horsemeat for human consumption is exported to Europe. And finally, the ban was only in effect for five or six years. Prior to 2005, there wasn't exactly a booming market for horsemeat in the U.S. and allowing inspections probably won't create a big market.

So, where is North Carolina in all that? Nowhere new, apparently. According to a spokesman for the NCDA, there are no slaughtering facilities in North Carolina. If there were an attempt to open such a facility, it wouldn't be inspected by the NCDA, it would have to be federally inspected. And the federal office in Raleigh has no knowledge of any plans to open a facility. If a new facility opened, it would be more likely to happen in the West, where there is a higher population of horses.