Wetherspoon ‘sorry’ over steak recall
The founder and chairman of the 900-strong JD Wetherspoon pubs group has apologised to customers over a major steak product recall and revealed it has dropped its meat supplier, Russell Hume.
Sirloin, rump and gammon steak were pulled from the menu of all the chain’s UK and Irish pubs after the supplier said there was a “mis-labelling” issue.
Wetherspoon, which has 70-plus pubs in Scotland, said yesterday it has cancelled its contract with Russell Hume and is now sourcing its steaks from new suppliers.
Chairman Tim Martin said: “Firstly we wish to apologise to our customers for the inconvenience caused to them.
“However, our decision to stop serving steak from Tuesday 23 January, despite limited information from the supplier, was the correct one.
“Steak is one of the most popular dishes on our menu, and we serve around 200,000 per week on average.
“We have now sourced alternative suppliers and are once again looking forward to serving the steak dishes from Tuesday, 30 January onwards.”
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said it was investigating Russell Hume over “serious non-compliance with food hygiene regulations”.
The FSA said in a statement that, following an unannounced inspection of Russell Hume’s Birmingham site earlier in January, it became aware of the hygiene issues.
It added there was no indication anyone had become ill from eating the supplier’s meat. Wetherspoon’s Scottish outlets include The Standing Order in Edinburgh.