Amusing Snippet, But It Isn't True

I hate it when news media circulate a hyped-up, inaccurate story (probably for the sheer shake of reader amusement). A case in point is this web page that I discovered on CBBC, the children's web portal of BBC News.

This story reports that dog meat is less popular than it used to be in China. The story adds:

China isn't the only country that serves up animals we might think of as a strange snack. In France horse is often on the menu, and in Japan they serve up whale burgers as an expensive treat.

That snippet about France simply isn't true. Since the 1980s, I have traveled through almost every region of France, and I have probably opened the menus at more than 50 French bistros, brasseries or restaurants. I have seen horse on a menu only once or twice. I don't think that qualifies as "often."