Why are the British so fussy about horsemeat?

While the French huff, puff, point fingers and call for stricter controls on meat imports, there is one part of the horsemeat affair that has intrigued them even more than the scandal itself. Why are the British so revolted by eating horse flesh?
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Parisushi

Sushi restaurants have sliced through the wave of fear that was unleashed by the Fukushima nuclear disaster, to confirm they are now a fixture of Parisians' eating habits.