Rickmansworth School dinner provider withdraws meals (From Watford Observer)
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Rickmansworth School dinner provider Eden Foodservice withdraws meals over horsemeat scandal
2:50pm Tuesday 19th February 2013 in News
By Ben Endley, Senior reporter
A supplier providing school dinners to Rickmansworth School has withdrawn a number of beef products as a precautionary measure.
Surrey-based Eden Foodservice has taken its pasta sauce with meat balls, pasta sauce with bolognese, sliced roast beef and traditional Cornish pasty out of circulation last week while suppliers are testing for the presence of horse meat.
The company supplies processed meals to approximately 850 primary, secondary and nursery schools across the country.
Lizzie Woolley, spokesman for Eden, said: "We are extremely confident that no contamination has occurred in any of our beef products as a result of robust due diligence processes we have in place with our suppliers. However, as an added precaution we are removing a small number of beef products from sale until we have received the satisfactory guarantees from our suppliers."
"In the meantime, we will only be serving products made with fresh British Red Tractor beef via our supplier ABP. We can guarantee unequivocally this meat is of the highest quality and free from contamination as ABP operates a slaughterhouse and processing plant in a single site and does not use any imported meat."
Hertfordshire County Council confirmed it did not use Eden Foodservice to provide meals for schools but academies are able to make their own catering arrangements.
The authority also rebuffed claims made last weekend by Iceland boss Malcolm Walker that local councils were to blame for the horse meat scandal and award contracts purely based on price.
A county council spokesman said: "When awarding contracts, Hertfordshire County Council has regulations in place which ensure that the procurement process reflects a proper balance between price and quality.
"Offers are judged by objective criteria set out in invitations to tender or quote documentation."
