[rsynnott]

> Two 'Irish Beef' patties

'Irish beef' here refers to the country of origin. This is a hangover from the BSE crisis, when people became very edgy about British beef. Restaurants nearly always say where beef came from ever since.

[TillE]

That's probably true, but it's also very common to see for example "British [meat]" or "German [meat]" marketed in their respective countries these days, not just beef.

[throw46365]

Paradoxically, British beef producers and their marketing board doubled down and made a virtue of Britishness, which seemed brave at the time, but was based on confidence -- and building confidence -- in the inspection and control regimes.

Frankly I think that confidence has been repaid over the long term, but at the same time I have only eaten beef or lamb a handful of times a year since the late nineties, even though whatever risk I carry of some future diagnosis is entirely to do with having been alive and eaten beef before 1989!