Bath and North East Somerset Council have confirmed that a batch of Beef Mince distributed to them in mid-December contained a very small amount of horsemeat – 1%.
Like many other local authorities across the West of England and South Wales, the Council was informed on Wednesday by its school meals supplier Welsh Bros Foods that a batch of the beef contained the horsemeat.
49 Primary Schools, 10 Early Years Centres, and 2 schools outside of the district received this batch of Beef Mince. No other meat product is affected.
In response to these test results they have taken immediate action:
- Withdrawn all Welsh Bros Foods Beef Mince products from all schools;
- Disposed of any Beef Mince stocks regardless of the batch number;
- Changed menus to include different meals and taken Beef Mince off the menu. We are confident the menu is free of all traces of horsemeat.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has stressed that there is no evidence of a food safety risk to consumers from horsemeat products.
Head Teachers and Centre Managers across the region have already been informed via letter and phone call about the situation. They have been asked to inform parents of schoolchildren.
