Pork found in halal chicken sausages
Westminster City Council has found traces of pork contaminating halal chicken sausages served to schoolchildren.
The council said that the sausages had been served in at least one primary school. The council has asked food contractor Chartwells to stop using its halal meat supplier.
The discovery came to light following seven samples of meat taken in three schools as a precautionary measure at the end of February. Results of these tests proved negative for horsemeat, but suggested trace levels of pork in chicken sausages. Further testing confirmed these suspicions.
The halal sausages were a menu choice in 15 primary schools, two nurseries, one special school and one pupil referral unit.
Andrew Christie, Westminster City Councils tri-borough director of children’s services, said that the authority was concerned its supplier had fallen short of the high standards that it demanded. “The results are all the more shocking given the assurances about the food we received from our suppliers.”
A spokesman for the sharia halal board said that this failed Muslims in the borough in a great way. “We have written and requested a national enquiry into halal meat supplied by all government departments.
“It must be British as this is the only meat we can fully trace and penalise for any failure.”
It is understood that Westminister council has withdrawn all meat products from all schools under the Chartwell contract, and set up a telephone hotline for concerned parents.
The chicken sausage supply chain
Poultry World has tried to trace the origins of the chicken sausage and found a surprisingly long supply chain.
At the top of the chain was Chartwells, part of the Compass Food group, and contracted to provide food to a number of Westminster schools. In a statement Chartwells said that the contaminated product was sourced from London butchers Nigel Fredericks and that the firm took full responsibility for the contamination. It added that supply from all of the firm’s sites had been withdrawn, and Chartwells had launched an investigation.
Nigel Fredericks said that the contamination must have been a result of human error. It said that it was very sorry that a product had come through its supply chain, and it had “failed to meet the high standards that our customers expect”. But the butchers said that the product was ultimately sourced from Brook Farm Sausages, and supplied to the school though a third party distributor.
The last link identified, Brook Farm Sausages, also put the contamination down to human error. Klaus Koentopp, managing director said the firm supplied over 20,000kg of sausages a week, and had never found any issue with contamination before. Mr Koentopp offered his apologies and also put the problem down to human error. Brook Farm Sausages declined to say whether the meat was British chicken or not.