No horse meat in Sutton school dinners

4:40pm Tuesday 12th February 2013 in News By Mike Pyle

Sutton's school dinners are horse-free Sutton's school dinners are horse-free

There is no horse in Sutton's school meals, parents and children have been reassured.

The council says it has assurances the beef supplied to primary and special schools in the area is uncontaminated while none of the borough's secondary schools are aware of any problems.

A Sutton Council spokesman said: "Following national press coverage of beef products being contaminated with horse meat, we would like to reassure parents that the beef and beefburgers used by Sutton Catering in the primary and special schools are provided by one nominated supplier, who has full traceability of the beef purchased.

"We can confirm that there should be no risk of contamination, as all the beef they purchase is sourced from UK suppliers.

"No ready meals are used as the lunches are freshly prepared by the catering staff."

Enquiries did not reveal any concerns in Sutton's secondary schools although Harrisons, which caters for Cheam High School, refused to comment.

Comments(8)

David7 says...
4:48pm Tue 12 Feb 13

I hope this rushed denial doesn’t come back to bite them on the (horse’s) a***. Findus thought their meat came from France, but it was brought in to France from further afield.

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David7 says...
8:24pm Tue 12 Feb 13

I didn’t speak too soon. So UK meat is OK, is it? It’s those **** foreigners – from Wales and Yorkshire!

http://www.bbc.co.uk
/news/uk-21434077

I do wish the spinners at Sutton Council wouldn’t jump the gun on such serious issues by throwing out press statements before they know the facts.

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Wait right there says...
9:48pm Tue 12 Feb 13

So Sutton reassure parents that the food their children eat has traceability and they are called spinners? Back to the glue factory for you David7 so they can stick those loose parts back together.

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David7 says...
11:59pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Rubbish, wait right there – the issue with the contamination is fraud, horsemeat being passed off as beef. Harrisons hasn’t even commented yet, as the story clearly states, so the Council cannot be 100% sure.

I doubt whether Sutton Catering can yet be 100% sure there is no fraud in its supply chain, as their suppliers may be the victim of a fraud. We have no idea how widespread this may be.

This story was published, and my first comment made, before the two UK abattoirs were raided on suspicion of passing off horsemeat as beef.

There is no information yet as to where this may have entered the supply chain.

Hence my warning of jumping the gun with such an announcement. Spin is putting out the message you want people to hear, rather than the facts.

Read before you post, please.

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Wait right there says...
12:33am Wed 13 Feb 13

David7. Spin is indead putting out the message you want people to hear rather than the facts. However you are the one that is spinning not the council. If they have been the victim of fraud then that does not contradict their statement. Stating that their supplier is able to trace the origin of the meat served is responsible, your comment is not.

read before you post, please

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Giles C says...
7:29am Wed 13 Feb 13

Wait right there wrote:
David7. Spin is indead putting out the message you want people to hear rather than the facts. However you are the one that is spinning not the council. If they have been the victim of fraud then that does not contradict their statement. Stating that their supplier is able to trace the origin of the meat served is responsible, your comment is not.

read before you post, please
Absolute tosh....
On that basis you absolve Suttons spin dept of any false claims based on ignorance.
They and you are the ones who have jumped the gun.
Get your facts right you numpty and apologist for lib dem propaganda.

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lordofzombies says...
7:42am Wed 13 Feb 13

meat is meat, get over it.

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David7 says...
9:57am Wed 13 Feb 13

Wait right there wrote:
David7. Spin is indead putting out the message you want people to hear rather than the facts. However you are the one that is spinning not the council. If they have been the victim of fraud then that does not contradict their statement. Stating that their supplier is able to trace the origin of the meat served is responsible, your comment is not.

read before you post, please
So, Wait right there, examine this statement:

‘We can confirm that there should be no risk of contamination, as all the beef they purchase is sourced from UK suppliers.’

In the light of recent events, do you think that makes everything OK?

I’ve seen Sutton Catering’s work first-hand, and the catering in Sutton’s schools is second to none – let’s make that clear. But in a fast-changing situation, a blanket ‘reassurance’ by the Council has been shown to be jumping the gun. Sutton Catering is, I’m sure, working with its suppliers to ensure that they are not victims of any fraud.

I believe it is spin because the government has already falsely claimed it is a ‘food labelling’ issue, and confined to ‘foreign’ suppliers. It has proved not to be this, but an issue of fraud.

The fact that the Cheam High School supplier, Harrisons, has not commented yet also shows that the blanket reassurance is premature.

Although the health risks with horsemeat are low, there remains a risk. That will concern parents most, in my view.

And the assurance is mealy-mouthed – mixing words like ‘confirm’ and ‘should’ in a single sentence is typical PR-speak. I should know, I’ve done food industry marketing.

Parents deserve better than this. You really shouldn’t take anything a press office says at face value.

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