Worcestershire's school meals are officially horsemeat free

Since news of the horsemeat scandal broke, Worcestershire County Council's Scientific Services team has been working round the clock testing a wide variety of food samples from across the UK, with the aim of providing reassurance to residents and businesses concerning the labelling and content of food products.

In recent weeks the team's laboratory services have been in great demand by enforcement bodies and the food industry countrywide owing to the widely reported issues concerning horsemeat found in processed foods in the UK. The Scientific Services team has also been focusing on food products of interest much closer to home, as testing has been taking place on school and hospital meals from Worcestershire.

Testing is now complete, and the Scientific Services team has confirmed that all samples taken from county schools tested negative for equine (horse) DNA. 

Samples from Worcestershire Royal Hospital's meals were also tested for horse DNA and the results of these tests were also negative.

The procedure used for testing is real-time PCR (real-time polymerase chain reaction).  This enables DNA samples to be analysed to detect and quantify the presence of, for example, DNA of a species other than that which the sample is supposed to contain. 

As has been well publicised in the media, samples in some tests of processed food, labelled as containing beef, have been found to contain up to 100 per cent horsemeat, so the news that, to date, no food tested from Worcestershire food businesses, or supplied to schools or hospitals, has shown even trace elements of horse DNA is greatly reassuring.

Worcestershire County Council's catering contracts officer, Julia Marshall, said: "This news that our school meals and the samples from Worcestershire Royal Hospital have proved free of equine DNA is excellent and confirms what we already knew, that parents of children in our schools can be confident of the quality and labelling of the school meals provided.”

For more information on the work of the Scientific Services team, call 01905 751300, or see www.worcestershire.gov.uk/scientificservices. To obtain a quote or arrange testing of food, call 01905 751300 and ask for the Scientific Services Lab Team, or email scientificservices@worcestershire.gov.uk.