Wetherspoon steak supplier at centre of ‘one of the biggest food scandals since horsemeat’
Schools, care homes and restaurants were ordered to stop serving meat from the pub chain’s supplier Russell Hume
WETHERSPOON’S steak supplier is at the centre of a growing food hygiene crisis.
Schools, care homes and restaurants were ordered by food watchdogs to stop serving meat from the pub chain’s supplier Russell Hume.
It was forced to close its six processing factories on Monday after the Food Standards Agency blocked any meat from leaving.
The FSA said yesterday it launched a probe after a visit to Russell Hume’s Birmingham plant on January 12 highlighted “serious non- compliance with food hygiene regulations”.
It added: “All unused meat supplied by Russell Hume has been withdrawn from the businesses that they supply.”
We told yesterday how Wetherspoon bosses withdrew steak at all its 900 pubs on Tuesday.
It also emerged yesterday Jamie Oliver’s restaurants pulled meat from Russell Hume and “immediately switched suppliers”.
Wetherspoon said steak would be off the menu while it finds a new supplier.
Prof Chris Elliott, of the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University Belfast, warned: “This will further undermine trust in the entire UK food industry.
“This is potentially one of the biggest food scandals since horsemeat.”
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The 2013 crisis, when horsemeat was found in beef products, led to an overhaul of food regulations. Phones were unanswered at Russell Hume’s Derby HQ yesterday, as were our emails.
In a statement issued via Wetherspoon, the firm said: “The product recall was a precautionary measure because of mislabelling. We have no reason to believe the product was unsafe to eat.”