Meat dished out to local schools is well checked
Merton has passed on assurances from school dinner contractors that meat provided for its school dinners come from reputable suppliers in the UK.
The council has liaised with its main school-meal catering contractor, ISS, along with their suppliers, following the 'horsemeat in beef scandal', to check the situation. It will continue to keep in contact to ensure there is no risk of the contaminated ingredients going into schools.
It says meat given to schools comes from organisations accredited with an approved quality mark, such as the Red Tractor Assurance. This guarantees every step of the food supply chain has been independently inspected to ensure food is produced to quality standards.
Merton's cabinet member for education, Councillor Martin Whelton said: "We take the issue of food safety extremely seriously and it is important parents know we are working closely to with contractors to monitor the situation. The school dinners provided to children are freshly prepared daily on site from unprocessed ingredients so pupils can enjoy their food with the confidence they are eating good quality British meat."
February 14, 2013