The outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Britain has already
caused meat prices to soar, say restaurateurs.
Some chefs say customers are also ordering less meat because
they fear for their health, despite reassurances that foot-and-mouth cannot
pass to humans.
Don Tait, owner of Oxygen Bar and Grill in Edinburgh, found
his bacon prices pushed up by a staggering 40% because of the crisis. Like many
restaurateurs, he has decided to reduce portions rather than pass the price
increase on to customers - Oxygen's all-day breakfast now contains one bacon
rasher instead of two.
"I think the general public will panic, because this is
yet another food scare for them to cope with," he said. "Our next
menu is coming out in the late spring, and we'll be moving away from red meat
and including more chicken and vegetarian dishes."
Mark Parris, head chef of London restaurant 192, said:
"People have watched TV and seen all the pig carcasses being burned, and
that scares them."
Chez Gérard in London bought bulk supplies of beef when the
crisis began, but commercial director Jason Danciger feared that the ban on
transporting livestock around the country might cause shortages in some areas.
"The whole thing is incredibly worrying," he said.
"We're checking with our suppliers on an hourly basis."
David Phillips-White, manager of the Hole in the Wall in
Bath, was concerned that some restaurants would stop supporting local farmers
and switch to using foreign meat.
Padrig Jones, chef of Le Gallois bistro in Cardiff, believed
successive health scares were knocking consumer confidence. "People are
getting very concerned about meat - they just don't believe it's safe," he
said.
Steve Thornton, owner of Surrey-based outside caterer
Blends, said he had received a delivery of meat today (Tuesday) and prices
seemed to have risen by about 40%.