Supplier ‘sold foreign beef as British’

A MEAT supplier being investigated for concerns around use-by dates is also facing claims it sold foreign beef as British, it emerged last night.

Russell Hume supplied millions of beef, chicken, pork, lamb and steak cuts to the Wetherspoon pub chain, Jamie Oliver’s restaurants, Hilton hotels, Greene King pubs, schools and care homes.

But, last month it was ordered to halt all deliveries after being suspected of ‘serious non-compliance’ with food regulations.

Restaurants and other customers with unused meat from Russell Hume were told to dispose of it and companies including Wetherspoon cut ties to the firm.

It was claimed the issue had arisen over concerns surrounding ‘inaccurate’ use-by dates on products following an inspection from the Food Standards agency.

But a whistleblower last night claimed it had been misleading customers about the meat’s country of origin. An anonymous worker accused the company of falsely declaring foreign meat to be British to make more money.

The whistleblower told ITV news: ‘Imported beef is a third less in price than British beef so there’s an oppor- tunity to make 30 per cent more profit. It’s what the industry does and has been doing for a long time.

‘Falsifying traceability of imported beef and making it into UK beef and then serving it to some of the biggest companies in the country.’ The former employee claimed the beef was often mislabelled, adding: ‘You’d make sure you had enough beef to service the orders whether it was Botswana, Namibia, Australia and we will make it British.’

Russell Hume denied the allegations telling the news channel: ‘As the FSA states on its website, its investigations into Russell Hume are related to procedures and processes relating to use-by dates.

‘We do not recognise the allegations made in the programme, but in any case we continue to work closely with the FSA in resolving this matter.’

The company says it supplies ‘premium meat products from the British Isles and around the globe via reputable sources and only from high quality markets’.

The Derby-based company, which has seven sites across the UK had an unannounced inspection of its Birmingham Factory on January 12.

Chris Mallon, Director of the National Beef Association, said: ‘Most of the industry is reputable. It is only a minority who are causing a problem to those who are abiding by the rules that are set.

‘The food chain depends on trust and anything at all that takes that away is going to be a problem.’

‘It’s what the industry does’