Jamie's Italian drops meat supplier after '˜serious hygiene warning'

Food inspectors found ‘serious non-compliance with food hygiene regulations’ at meat supplier Russell Hume after a surprise inspection by Food Standards Agency on January 12.

Wetherspoons and Butlin’s have also been caught up in the widespread meat recall.

A spokesperson for Jamie’s Italian told a national newspaper: “As soon as we were notified by Russell Hume about issues, we switched suppliers.

“To ensure all our suppliers uphold our strict higher welfare and food safety standards, we have an independent team that audits all our key suppliers, including meat.

“Following an inspection at the end of last year and the fact we have full traceability on our meat, we can confirm that none of the meat we buy is impacted.”

The FSA said in a statement: “Following an unannounced inspection of Russell Hume’s Birmingham site on 12 January, we became aware of instances of serious non-compliance with food hygiene regulations.

This has led us and Food Standards Scotland to investigate all Russell Hume sites, and other locations where their product is stored, in England, Scotland and Wales. 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.

“There is no indication that people have become ill from eating meat supplied by Russell Hume. However, we are concerned about the poor practices in place at their premises so that is why we have taken proportionate action to ensure no meat can leave their sites at present. We are continuing to assess the situation.

“Distribution of meat from Russell Hume is to a range of outlets, including hospitality and catering businesses, and care homes and schools. All unused meat supplied by Russell Hume has been withdrawn from the businesses that they supply until they can provide assurances. The company is co-operating with our investigation and is currently reviewing its procedures and retraining its staff.”

Russell Hume said: “The product recall was a precautionary measure because of mislabeling.

“We have no reason to believe that the product was unsafe to eat.”