Production and distribution of meat, mainly for the catering industry remains closed at Russell Hume’s Inverkeithing facility, along with the company’s five other sites in England. This is as a result of a Food Standards Scotland (FSS) and Food Standards Agency (FSA) investigation of the company which revealed “a number of issues, including concerns about procedures and processes around use-by dates”.

Russell Hume is a major player in supplying the restaurant trade. The company counted among their customers pub chain JD Wetherspoon, which sells 200,000 steaks per week. For many people it was their decision not to hold their Tuesday night steak promotion two weeks ago that brought the problems at Russell Hume into the public domain.

Suspended

The FSA confirmed to the Farmers Journal Scotland on Wednesday afternoon that production and distribution at the Russell Hume sites remained suspended and that the investigation is ongoing.

We also contacted Russell Hume, and they declined the opportunity to comment. Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) told the Farmers Journal Scotland that Russell Hume had not been part of the QMS Processor Scheme, though they had been part of the Red Tractor Scheme, which we understand is suspended.

Voluntary withdrawl

The FSA and FSS have been limited in their comments so far, saying that they don’t want to prejudice any possible enforcement action. They have, however, said that production and sales has been stopped at all their depots across the UK, with a voluntary withdrawal of all product that had sent out.

A company-wide investigation was triggered following an unannounced audit at one of the company’s sites, which triggered a wider investigation.

The FSA, on their website said: “There was a more systemic and widespread problem, which was more serious in terms of its scale and nature. It was only at this stage [that] issues of serious non-compliance were uncovered. These related to a number of issues including concerns about procedures and processes around use-by dates.”

The Farmers Journal Scotland spoke to the FSA on Wednesday afternoon to enquire about what the other issues were, apart from the dates referred to in their statement, but they wouldn’t elaborate any further.

There is no indication when the company will resume business, and the seriousness of the situation is emphasised by FSA chief executive Jason Feeney’s commenting that: “We don’t take decisions to stop production, instigate product recalls or withdrawals lightly. Our job is to ensure that food produced by a business is safe and clearly we must take a proportionate approach.”

Russell Hume is a major player in the British restaurant trade and, as the number of 200,000 steaks on a Tuesday night promotion in JD Wetherspoon indicates, they are a serious buyer of steak meat in particular.

On Friday last, JD Wetherspoon announced on their website that they had cancelled their contract with Russell Hume.

“Very challenging”

In their most recent accounts for the year ending March 2016, they had a £131m profit and had a profit before tax of £3.7m. Company chair David Holding said in December 2016 that: “2016 overall was very challenging and there has been a significant effect, through the Brexit vote, on exchange rates, which have had a direct effect on the price of meat.”