Know2eat

Horse meat

Equus caballus

What horse meat has been studied for

2 associations assessed — 1 with at least some human evidence behind it. Strongest first.

  • 1 Limited
  • 1 Insufficient
4 things to know first — allergies, interactions and intake limits

About horse meat

Meat from the domestic horse, eaten in Italy, France, Belgium, Central Asia, Japan and elsewhere while being culturally unacceptable in much of the English-speaking world. It is dark red, very lean and slightly sweet because of a higher glycogen content than beef.

Also known as Cheval, Basashi (raw, Japan), Carne de caballo

Women's HealthMuscle & Physical Performance

The evidence in depth

Best supported: Limited

What each association actually rests on, and the papers behind it. A rating describes the state of the research, not how impressive the food is. How we rate evidence.

Iron status

Women's Health
Limited evidence

Has been studied as a source of heme iron. Horse meat is among the most iron-dense muscle meats measured, though the human evidence is about heme iron generally rather than this species.

Limited evidence. Early human work, or mostly lab and animal research.

3 sources

Deep research mode adds each paper’s own conclusion and stated limitations.

Muscle protein synthesis

Muscle & Physical Performance
Insufficient evidence

May support muscle protein synthesis as a very lean complete protein. The claim rests on the general protein quality of meat; horse has not been used in a feeding trial.

Insufficient evidence. Not enough human research to say anything useful yet.

No source is attached to this association yet, so it is rated insufficient by default. It is listed because people commonly ask about it — not because there is evidence for it.

Ask about Horse meat

Ask about Horse meat

Answers are written only from the entries on this page — the same nutrients, compounds, claims and citations you can read above. Nothing is added from outside the database, and every answer lists what it was built from.

AI explanations are not switched on for this site, so there is nothing to ask here. Everything above is read straight from the database and does not need them.

Key nutrients

Nutrient content per 100 grams
NutrientAmount% DV
Macronutrients
Calories133 kcal7%
Protein21.4 g43%
Total fat4.6 g6%
Carbohydrate0 g0%
Fibre0 g0%
Water72.6 g—
Fats
Saturated fat1.44 g7%
Monounsaturated fat1.61 g—
Polyunsaturated fat0.65 g—
Cholesterol52 mg17%
Linoleic acid (omega-6)0.29 g—
Vitamins
Vitamin A0 µg0%
Vitamin C1 mg1%
Thiamin (B1)0.13 mg11%
Riboflavin (B2)0.1 mg8%
Niacin (B3)4.6 mg29%
Vitamin B60.38 mg22%
Vitamin B123 µg125%
Minerals
Calcium6 mg0%
Iron3.82 mg21%
Magnesium24 mg6%
Phosphorus221 mg18%
Potassium360 mg8%
Sodium53 mg2%
Zinc2.9 mg26%
Copper0.144 mg16%
Manganese0.019 mg1%
Selenium10.1 µg18%
Other measured compounds
Ash0.99 g—

Nutrient values are per 100 g of the USDA reference entry named on this page and vary with variety, growing conditions, storage and preparation.

Source record: Game meat, horse, raw (USDA FoodData Central, FDC ID 175086).

% DV uses the FDA Daily Values for adults and children aged 4 and over. A dash means no Daily Value has been established for that nutrient.

Bioactive compounds

Compounds present in meaningful amounts. Presence is banded rather than quantified, because whole-food levels vary enormously with variety, growing conditions, storage and preparation.

How preparation changes things

Only effects with real support are listed. If a preparation method is missing, it is because nothing dependable is documented — not because it makes no difference.

Nothing dependable is recorded about how preparation changes this food’s nutritional properties. Rather than guess, this section stays empty.

Things to know

Allergies, interactions and intake concerns. Every food gets this section — a reference where everything is uniformly good is not a reference.

  • Worth knowing

    Veterinary drug residues

    Horses are often raised as companion or sport animals rather than as food, and may have received drugs never approved for food-producing species, phenylbutazone being the recurring example. The 2013 European horsemeat scandal was about fraudulent substitution, but the residue question it exposed is the more substantive food safety issue, and it turns entirely on whether the animal was tracked in a food chain from the start.

  • Worth knowing

    Trichinella in raw horse meat

    Horse meat caused several large trichinellosis outbreaks in France and Italy in the 1970s to 1990s, all linked to eating it raw or very rare, which is the traditional way in those countries and in Japan. Testing of horse carcasses for Trichinella is now mandatory in the EU precisely because of that history.

  • Too much

    Red meat classification

    Horse is unprocessed red meat and falls under the IARC Group 2A classification, probably carcinogenic to humans, on limited evidence relating mainly to colorectal cancer.

  • Allergy

    Horse meat allergy and alpha-gal

    Horse meat allergy is documented, sometimes in people sensitised to horse dander. As mammalian meat it is also a trigger in alpha-gal syndrome.