Why did Wetherspoon remove steak from menus and why is Russell Hume being investigated over the meat recall?
The supplier said binning the meat was a 'precautionary' measure only after a surprise visit from Food Standards Agency inspectors found serious hygiene and mislabelling issues
CARNIVORES across the country were left gutted after Wetherspoon pulled three different steaks from their menu at pubs.
So why did the pub chain recall the meat dish on its Steak Club day, and what did their supplier have to say about it?
Why did Wetherspoon remove steaks from the menu?
Steak was suddenly pulled off the Wetherspoon menu on January 23 - to the concern of many of the pub's Steak Club diners.
Customers were told that steak had been pulled from their 900 pubs across the UK due to "quality issues with our meat supplier".
The 14oz rump steak, mixed grill, sirloin steak and gammon steak had to be binned after the notice went out to pubs and customers.
The chain is thought to normally sell around 90,000 steaks on Tuesdays alone for its weekly Steak Club.
A Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon said: “We have had a supply issue with our pubs.
“Currently rump steak, sirloin steak and gammon steak are not available, but we hope to resolve this soon.
“We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience.”
Wetherspoon have since found a new supplier and boss Tim Martin has said that steak nights will continue from next week.
Why did Russell Hume recall some products and why are they being investigated?
Steak supplier to Wetherspoon Russell Hume are now at the centre of a food hygiene probe.
Since the steak recall, it has since emerged that Russell Hume had just been investigated by food safety inspectors over non-compliance with hygiene regulations.
The FSA said in a statement: "Following an unannounced inspection of Russell Hume's Birmingham site on January 12, 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."
The FSA added: "There is no indication that people have become ill from eating meat supplied by Russell Hume."
On February 19 it was announced the company had gone into administration with the expected loss of 270 jobs.
The firm's directors described the decision to call in administrators KPMG as "heartbreaking".
Chris Pole of KPMG said: "Our priority over the coming days will be to work with all affected employees to provide the assistance they need in claiming monies owed from the Redundancy Payments Office."
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Who else uses Russell Hume as their meat supplier?
Jamie Oliver's chain of Italian restaurants was forced to pull its meat dishes from menus as well after issues with supplier Russell Hume hit the headlines
The Jamie Oliver Group say they immediately switched to a different supplier as soon as they became aware of the recall notices.
Its website reads: "Our beef comes from British and Irish farms, and our pork is always from British farms, too."
A Jamie's Italian spokesman said: “All Russell Hume meat was removed from restaurants as soon as we were notified on Monday. This was a day before the FSA asked for meat to be removed. We also immediately switched suppliers.
“We have very strict higher welfare and food standards and to ensure our suppliers uphold these 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 would have been impacted.”
Other restaurants affected include Tiger Tiger, Marston's pubs and Butlins - all have now switched suppliers.
The Russell Hume group also supplies a number of schools and care homes across the UK.
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