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West Berkshire is horse meat free, says council





West Berkshire Council has confirmed that all caterers contracted by it have had their produce tested and no traces of horse meat have been found.
Caterer ISS provides school meals for all council-run schools, and this week said: “We can confirm that no horse meat has been found, and are confident that none will be found within our school food.
“We are confident that every step has been taken to ensure the integrity of our food chain but we will be maintaining a high level of contact with all suppliers.”
Six schools within the district contract their own caterers.
Denefield School, in Tilehurst, confirmed that Caterlink, which provides its school meals, had found no traces of horse meat in its products, while St Bartholomew’s purchase all meat products fresh from Thatcham Butchers.
School meals at Kennet School, in Thatcham, are provided by catering giant Compass, which earlier this month had to retract a burger product in Ireland and Northern Ireland after it was found to contain traces of horse meat.
However, the firm has stressed that further traces have not been found in England, but that tests are ongoing.
Trinity School, in Shaw, uses Chartwells as its caterers, which is part of the Compass group.
Little Heath School, in Tilehurst and Theale Green School, Theale had not responded at the time of the Newbury Weekly News going to press.
A spokesman for West Berkshire Council, Keith Ulyatt, said council-run care homes within the district had found no issues with caterer Pride Catering, but investigations were ongoing.
There is also no cause for concern for patients at Royak Berkshire hospital, said hospital spokesman Joe Wise, as it had received assurances from suppliers that no products had been found to contain horse DNA.
He said: “NHS Logistics, who provide some additional supplies, have initiated their own lab test results and the final results are awaited, however they have released a statement to say they are not aware of any issue affecting the supply chain.”
Meanwhile, the Racecourse Newbury has stressed that it focuses on locally sourced and non-processed meats in its restaurants.
The director of retail and hospitality at The Racecourse Newbury, Sam Pedder, said: “As a company, The Racecourse Newbury focuses on freshly prepared menus using carefully sourced ingredients.
“The large majority of our dishes are prepared by our own chef team using local or regional suppliers; there is no place for mass manufactured food within our business.”



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