Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin says steak night is BACK next week as chain secures new supplier after hygiene scandal
STEAK nights at Wetherspoon are back on.
The pub chain was forced to cancel its steak nights this week after it was revealed their meat supplier Russell Hume was being investigated for "serious non-compliance" over food hygiene regulations.
But the chairman has now apologised - and confirmed a new supplier has been found so that the steak nights will be able to continue from next week.
Chairman Tim Martin said: "Firstly we wish to apologise to our customers for the inconvenience caused to them.
"However, our decision to stop serving steak from Tuesday January 23, despite limited information from the supplier, was the correct one.
"Steak is one of the most popular dishes on our menu, and we serve around 200,000 per week on average, about half of these on our extremely popular Tuesday Night Steak Club.
- US hotel giant Hilton, Butlin's and Haven holiday camps, pub chain Yates' and shopping channel QVC are the latest firms to have withdrawn meat from the supplier.
- Wetherspoon, Jamie's Italian, Tiger Tiger, Greene King and Marston's pubs had already confirmed they have been forced to pull Russell Hume products.
- Buckingham Palace may have also used meat from the Derby-based company.
- Russell Hume has shutdown all six of its processing sites and pulled down its websites. All eight of the firms directors have refused to speak.
- An expert has warned the crisis could be the biggest since the horsemeat scandal.
- The exact reason behind the meat hygiene crisis has not been confirmed
"We have now sourced alternative suppliers and our pub staff are once again looking forward to serving the steak dishes from Tuesday January 30 onwards."
Jamie Oliver has also switched suppliers after the crisis was revealed, with concerns that even Buckingham Palace could have been supplied by the in-question meat.
In a statement after the steak recall, Russell Hume, which was also supplying Greene King, said: "The product recall was a precautionary measure because of mislabelling."
The exact reason behind the meat hygiene crisis has not been confirmed but a FSA source confirmed there were "public health" concerns over what inspectors had discovered at Russell Hume’s six processing factories.
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The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said it was investigating the supplier over "serious non-compliance with food hygiene regulations".
The FSA said in a statement that, following an unannounced inspection of Russell Hume's Birmingham site earlier in January, it became aware of the hygiene issues.
The FSA said there was no indication that anyone had become ill from eating Russell Hume meat.
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