Council assured ‘no horse meat’ in Camden school meals

Parents in Camden have been reassured that no meals served in the borough’s schools have been affected by the horse meat scandal.

Caterlink, the company which supplies all Camden school meals, has given the council a guarantee no horse and pig products have found their way into beef burgers served to schoolchildren.

The company insists it does not use any meat-based product from Findus and other suppliers currently associated with the on-going investigation by the Food Standards Agency.

Cllr Angela Mason, cabinet member for children, said: “The horsemeat scandal is obviously worrying and parents especially will want to be sure that they know what their children are eating when they are at school.

“I am pleased that I can give a guarantee to parents that children with special food requirements, for example because of religious beliefs are completely safe when they are eating school meals.

“Our contract with Caterlink provides a robust and stable basis to guarantee the high quality of the ingredients in Camden school meals.”

Penny Richards, Caterlink’s operation director, said: “Caterlink is proud of our farm to fork journey which ensures that we can trace the origin of our freshly prepared meat dishes to the farm where the animals are reared.

“All of our suppliers are audited by an external body to ensure that they comply with our and statutory obligations.”