JD Wetherspoon takes five meat dishes off menu

Pub operator JD Wetherspoon has taken five meat dishes off its menu in pubs in Wales following an investigation by Trading Standards Officers (TSO).

The pork, beef and lamb, all described as Welsh on the menu, may not have actually originated in Wales, the TSO investigation has shown.

The five meals taken off the menu are Welsh black beef curry, Welsh lamb cawl, Welsh pork faggots, Welsh Celtic Pride curry and Welsh chicken curry.

A spokesman for JD Wetherspoon said in a statement: “We have withdrawn these items pending an investigation by Trading Standards.”

“The company surveys the length and breadth of Wales to source local ingredients. We purchase these products from the supplier in good faith."

Embarrassingly, only last month Wetherspoon announced it would be pushing food provenance in its pubs and making information about the origin of its meals freely available to customers.

But Charles Newman, managing director of Baraka Foods Pentre, which supplied the meals, said: “JD Wetherspoon took the decision that it wishes to withdraw these products due to a question mark over our ability to meet their standards.

“We would refute that and have taken steps to ensure all of our proteins were precisely what was required – that’s in place now. All of the products we supply are Welsh.”

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By Chris Druce

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