No horse-meat in Derbyshire’s school dinners

As school meals provided by the authority use meat produced on two local organic farms, products are easily traced back to their origins.

Ready meals are never used in schools either and everything is cooked by the authority’s school meals service.

Cllr Mike Longden, Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education, said: “In the wake of the national concern this issue is causing, I’m keen to pre-empt any worries parents might have by making it clear our school meals meet the very highest standards.”

“We have a supplier who provides our fresh mince and they are subject to regular checks.

“Our school meals service itself is checked to ensure the products we use are of the right quality. “We work very hard to make sure our meals offer the best possible value for money to parents and never compromise on quality.”

The authority carries out random and regular checks with all suppliers to be sure everything used in school meals contains what it is supposed to.

County council trading standards officers also take yearly samples of the products used to confirm products are not contaminated.