Moray reassurance on school meals

Moray Council has issued a reassurance about the origin of ingredients for school meals served up to hundreds of pupils every day.

It follows publicity about the provenance of some food products - particularly chicken – in the national media over recent days.

The vast majority of ingredients served in Moray school canteens are sourced locally.

All meat products are supplied by a Forres family butcher who sources meat from abattoirs in Speyside and Dingwall, while seasonal vegetables are grown on a Moray farm.

The Forres butcher also supplies around half of the council’s chicken purchases with the remainder being provided by a national supplier.

Egg supplies come from a farm near Elgin while the milk served to schoolchildren comes from a dairy herd near Nairn.

Bread products are sourced from a Huntly bakery firm while fish is sourced from Peterhead.

A council spokesman said: “We have a very good record when it comes to sourcing food products locally and it is something of which we are proud.

“We use very little convenience food and all the meals we served in our schools are made from raw ingredients. For example, our sausages and hot dogs are made to our own recipe, we make our own chicken and fish goujons and we make our own sausage rolls and some pizzas.

“The fact that we served good, fresh and wholesome meals is reflected in the fact that the uptake in school dinners among primary children has risen from 39% in 2008 to more than 64% last year.”