The Food Standards Agency has refused to comment on an allegation reported on ITV news that Russell Hume labelled foreign beef as British.

A spokesperson for from FSA and Food Standards Scotland said that they aware of the ITV coverage on county-of-origin labelling, but said FSA can’t comment on the case.

“Our investigation into Russell Hume is related to a number of issues including concerns about procedures and processes around use-by dates. The Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland took action to stop production at Russell Hume sites last month and affected products have already been withdrawn.

“It is now in the interests of consumers for us to pursue our investigation fully which could include the possibility of criminal proceedings and not to jeopardise it by commenting any further on allegations.

“We have also jointly announced an industry-wide review of meat cutting premises and cold stores in the UK.”

Labelling

There is an allegation around the country-of-origin-labelling of beef at the company after a former Russell Hume worker told ITV news that the company had labelled foreign beef as British.

Speaking to ITV, the worker alleged: "Imported beef is a third less in price than British beef so there's an opportunity to make 30% more profit.

"It’s what the industry does and has been doing for a long time. Falsifying traceability of imported beef and making it into UK beef and then serving it to some of the biggest companies in the country.

"You'd make sure you had enough beef to service the orders whether it was Botswana, Namibia, Australia and we will make it British,” he said.

In a statement to ITV news, a spokesperson for Russell Hume said: "As the FSA states on its website, its investigations into Russell Hume are related to procedures and processes relating to use-by dates.

“We do not recognise the allegations made in the programme, but in any case we continue to work closely with the FSA in resolving this matter."

The spokesperson also said that Russell Hume supplies "premium meat products from the British Isles and around the globe ... via reputable sources and only from high quality markets", and that it has "a long and previously unblemished record".

Inspection

Earlier this year, an unannounced inspection of Russell Hume’s Birmingham site sparked a recall of its meat from the supply chain after serious non-compliance with food hygiene regulations was found.

Before production ceased at Russell Hume plants, the company was a large buyer of Irish beef and a major customer of beef from factories across the island of Ireland.

Health risks

The firm supplied well-known restaurants such as Wetherspoon and Jamie’s Italian before its processing sites were shut down.

There is no indication that people have become ill from eating meat supplied by Russell Hume, but in a statement in January, Food Standards Scotland said it was concerned about the poor practices in place at the company’s premises.

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