SCHOOL meals in Gloucestershire have been given the all clear after testing on supplies of food came back free from horse meat.
Worried parents were keen to find out if their children had been unwittingly eating horse in spaghetti bolognaise and beef burgers served up from school kitchens.
But Gloucestershire County Council was quick to confirm tests on its supplier, Edwards & Ward, had given its meat products a clean bill of health.
A spokesman for Gloucestershire County Council said: "No school meals have been withdrawn from the 185 primary and special schools within the county contract supplied by Edwards & Ward.
"Following Food Standards Agency (FSA) guidance we have gained written assurances from Edwards & Ward that it has not been supplied with products or ingredients sourced from any meat suppliers cited by the FSA as part of the current horse meat scandal, and that DNA testing has been undertaken or is currently being undertaken.
"Award-winning contractor Edwards & Ward has two meals containing beef on its menu – spaghetti bolognaise and beefburgers.
"Beef used in the spaghetti bolognaise is supplied, slaughtered and processed locally from cattle under 30 months of age.
"The beefburgers are also sourced from fully accredited suppliers with full traceability back to UK farms."
Edwards & Ward was the first caterer to be awarded the Food For Life Partnership's Gold Award for all of the 185 primary and special schools it manages in Gloucestershire.
The award recognises the provision of freshly prepared, locally sourced, organic, free range and Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) meals.
Read more in tomorrow's Citizen.
Worried parents were keen to find out if their children had been unwittingly eating horse in spaghetti bolognaise and beef burgers served up from school kitchens.
But Gloucestershire County Council was quick to confirm tests on its supplier, Edwards & Ward, had given its meat products a clean bill of health.
A spokesman for Gloucestershire County Council said: "No school meals have been withdrawn from the 185 primary and special schools within the county contract supplied by Edwards & Ward.
"Following Food Standards Agency (FSA) guidance we have gained written assurances from Edwards & Ward that it has not been supplied with products or ingredients sourced from any meat suppliers cited by the FSA as part of the current horse meat scandal, and that DNA testing has been undertaken or is currently being undertaken.
"Award-winning contractor Edwards & Ward has two meals containing beef on its menu – spaghetti bolognaise and beefburgers.
"Beef used in the spaghetti bolognaise is supplied, slaughtered and processed locally from cattle under 30 months of age.
"The beefburgers are also sourced from fully accredited suppliers with full traceability back to UK farms."
Edwards & Ward was the first caterer to be awarded the Food For Life Partnership's Gold Award for all of the 185 primary and special schools it manages in Gloucestershire.
The award recognises the provision of freshly prepared, locally sourced, organic, free range and Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) meals.
Read more in tomorrow's Citizen.