Horse meat scandal: pub food suppliers reassure licensees

By Gurjit Degun

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Horse

Burger: traces of horse meat have been found in them
Burger: traces of horse meat have been found in them
Pub food suppliers have reassured licensees that they do not stock any products which contain horse meat.

It comes as horse meat was found in Tesco Value beef burgers and Findus beef lasagnes.

A spokesman for Brakes said that it has had “reconfirmation on the source, traceability and processing of the meat from all our suppliers”.

He said: “We would like to reassure customers that no Brakes brand products are sourced from any of the suppliers identified in this issue, therefore none of the Brakes brand products we supply in the UK are affected by these findings.

“For all Brakes branded beef products we have had reconfirmation on the source, traceability and processing of the meat from all our suppliers. Tests that we have undertaken have proved negative for horse meat.

“Along with the wider industry, we will follow any future requirements on sampling and testing in line with any recommendations that arise from the Sampling Protocol recently announced by the Food Standards Agency.”

Booker said that its “own-label products are not supplied by any of the companies affected by the horse meat contamination.”

3663 also confirmed that it does not stock any Findus meat products. A statement on its website said: “Following the recent FSA announcement of horsemeat being found in Findus meat products, 3663 can confirm we do not knowingly trade with either; Comigel, McAdam Food Services, Flexi Foods or Rangeland Foods Co. Additionally we can confirm that 3663 do not stock any meat based product lines from Findus.

“We believe that it is important that consumers have full confidence in the food they purchase. To ensure customers can retain confidence in the integrity of products throughout the food chain, 3663 are working closely with FSA and industry partners to develop clear cross industry guidelines on food testing and quality procedures.”

The Restaurant Group, which owns the Brunning & Price and Home Counties Pub Restaurants brands, said it has taken precautions to make sure that its food is not contaminated.

A spokesman said that TRG was supplied by Irish firm Rangeland but as soon as the Irish Food Standards Agency announced that it was investigating all beef supplies on 26 January, it “decided to cease using Irish suppliers of burgers”.

“At this stage, there was no indication that Rangeland Foods were being investigated by the Irish FSA,” he said.

“Subsequently, on 4 February 2013, the Irish FSA announced that Rangeland Foods had identified that a batch of meat contained equine DNA. Whilst Rangeland has confirmed in their statement that the contaminated batch of meat did not enter their production processes, TRG has destroyed, as a precaution, all products sourced from Rangeland and now only source burgers from UK suppliers - all beef burger products have been tested to confirm that they are clear of equine DNA.”

A spokesperson for Spirit Pub Company added: “We would like to reassure our guests, that none of our suppliers have been connected with the recent incidents regarding contamination found in beef products.

“We have embarked on a DNA testing programme to ensure all of our beef products remain free from contamination.”

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