Council: No horse meat in our school dinners (From Wimbledon Guardian)

Merton Council: No horse meat in our school dinners

2:20pm Friday 15th February 2013 in News By Lauren May, Chief Reporter

Merton Council has reassured parents over its schools meals amid the current horse meat scandal.

The council said it is in close contact with its main school meal contractor, ISS, and their suppliers to ensure no contaminated beef products enter the borough’s schools.

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."

All meat provided to schools has to come from organisations accredited with an approved quality mark such as the Red Tractor Assurance, which is a guarantee of their origins and ensures standards.