Dog Food Rebranded as Gourmet Pate

There was a similar case in Boston in 1992, I think -- dog food sold as meatball sandwiches.

Beginning in the summer of '82 in W.Germany, there broke a scandal in the press about kangaroo meat being included (but not labeled as such), in many of the cheaper type bratwurst and the like, that were sold at many local fests and bierhalls. Then there was a scandal about the governmental cover-up of the supposed truth of this allegation. Seems like it all blew over by summer of '83, but I do know a few corporate bigshots took their pensions in the meantime. As it turns out, kangaroo meat is relatively very healthy and found tasty by many.

oops - my bad - meant to say, 'relatively healthy compared to the REST of the ingredients in the noted wurst products!'

This may not be quite as bad as it sounds. After Soviet MiG pilot Victor Belenko defected to the US in the 1970s, he went to an American supermarket. He bought some canned dog food, not knowing what is was. When his new friends told him, he was amazed because he found it was better than the canned food for people sold in the Soviet Union.

I dunno Alex, but that Dusty Brand clothing chick is killin' me.....

It was the cheaper bratwurst that used ground kangaroo? I'm surprised they didn't charge a premium for using exotic meats. If a restraunt here got ahold of kangaroo and made rooburgers out of it, I'm sure they would cost more than using beef even if the kangaroo meat was cheaper.

If you're as old as I am, you probably remember the rumor storm back in the 1970s or early 80s (I don't recall the exact year), when it was alleged that McDonald's (or sometimes it was Burger King or another restaturant chain) was sneaking kangaroo meat into its burgers. The rumor dissipated, probably due in part to the fact that some spoilsport pointed out that kangaroo meat, when it's available, is actually much more expensive than beef.
A similar rumor alleged that ground earthworms were the secret ingredient, with a similar outcome-- at that time ground beef was wholesaling for something like $1.50 per pound, and earthworms were something like $15.00 per pound.
So, yeah, if anybody was going to sell sausages or burgers or whatever containing such premium ingredients, they'd be sure to adveritse it!

Heh heh. I have a couple of friends in their late 30's/early 40's who still SWEAR to this day that McDonald's did use worm meat and still might.

I wanted to correct them, but it seemed like more trouble than it was worth. Perhaps I should just print out the relevant page from Snopes.com and slip it under her door.

The last time I confronted someone about their gullibility in believing an urban legend, she got mad at me! 18 years old at the time, and she SWORE that throwing rice at weddings would cause birds to explode when they ate it later. 'Of course,' I replied, 'That's why there are no birds in China.' She gave me a Hope you Die look and said, 'Why do you always have to make me wrong?'

People.....

Hey, BigGaryC - I remember the McDonald's insinuations, too, and I think it was pretty much a running rumor throughout the '70's & early '80's. Never proven, of course - good memory, you. And Matt, you are dead on about American commercialism. Rooburgers DO exist here, tho you'll be hard-pressed to find them, and expensive, yes! My recollection was from an earlier time. But the point is, that the Germans are world-renowned for their meticulous habit of regulating and documenting vitually EVERYTHING. Their food-based laws put the USDA & FDA's tomes of regulations to shame. In addition, in the German culture, their wurst, almost as much as their beer, is a subject of national pride, and much local and regional competition. To even insinuate that a widely-distributed, and even exported food product such as a mass-produced bratwurst could possibly contain the smallest amount of an unlabeled and unquantified ingredient was grounds for major national embarrassment, if substantiated. Fortunes were at stake, as well as careers. I just honestly don't know what the outcome of this scandal was. Hoax, or not? Maybe Alex could find out - hmm?

Well, we do have a handful of restraunts with rather unusual burger ingredients in town. There's one place with ostrich burgers and another with buffalo ones. Both are more expensive than the beef sort.

There was a news item in NZ some 20 years ago about Aussie exporters including kangaroo meat in beef shipped to the US for hamburgers.

But maybe it was just the usual NZ view of Australia and their specious claims to have invented the pavlova.

IMO, if you want to know what is in your food, you need to prepare it yourself.

Shocking! Good work by the Israeli authorities. These people have to be punished severely so that people will not indulge in such activities.

Yes, as far i know kangaroo and beef are the best meats of the dog's favorite. And even my doggie love those too and it is healthy too. But our area has a hotel near by and there dog's burger are so fresh and good.