Meat recall hits Jamie Oliver and Butlin’s
JAMIE Oliver’s Italian restaurant chain and Butlin’s are the latest companies caught up in a widespread recall of meat from the same supplier that led to pub chain Wetherspoon pulling steak from its menu earlier this week.
Meat supplier Russell Hume was ordered to stop any products leaving its sites after a surprise inspection of the company’s Birmingham plant on January 12 by the Food Standards Agency found “serious non-compliance with food hygiene regulations”.
Its findings led to investigations into all Russell Hume sites and other locations where meat is stored in England, Scotland and Wales. It is understood the company informed customers soon after the inspection.
A spokeswoman for Jamie Oliver said all meat from the supplier was removed from its 36 Italian restaurants as soon as it was notified.
She added: “Following an inspection at the end of last year and the fact we have full traceability on our meat we are confident that none of the meat we buy would have been impacted.”
Bourne Leisure, which owns Butlin’s, Haven and Warner Leisure Hotels, said it had also used Russell Hume as a supplier.
A spokesman said: “Following a discussion earlier this week with our usual supplier Russell Hume, we have sourced a number of meat products from an alternative supplier and will continue to do so until we receive further information.”
Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon said: “We have had a supply issue with our pubs. Currently rump steak, sirloin steak and gammon steak are not available but we hope to resolve this soon.”
There is no indication that people have become ill from eating meat supplied by Russell Hume.
The FSA said in a statement: “Following an unannounced inspection of Russell Hume’s Birmingham site on January 12, we became aware of instances of serious non-compliance with food hygiene regulations.
“Russell Hume were unable to demonstrate compliance with food hygiene rules at its locations so we have stopped any product from leaving their sites until the business can provide assurances that they are complying with the relevant legislation, and that they are producing safe food.
“We have also instructed Russell Hume to undertake a withdrawal of all affected product in the supply chain.”
The company said the recall was a precautionary measure because of mislabelling. It said in a statement: “We have no reason to believe that the product was unsafe to eat.”