Food supplier sorry for horsemeat in schools

Amey Built Environment admitted there had been an “unacceptable lack of communication” which meant education chiefs were not told about the detection of horse DNA.

The company, which holds a contract with Edinburgh City Council, was told on 8 March by its own food supplier, 3663, that its products contained up to 5 per cent horsemeat.

However, Amey failed to inform the local authority. Council chiefs only detected the presence of horse DNA on 27 March when its own experts at Edinburgh Scientific Services published results of their tests.

Gillian Duggan, managing director of Amey, said: “Although checks confirmed no current stock of the contaminated meat in any of the premises, there has been an unfortunate and unacceptable lack of communication from Amey to the City of Edinburgh Council regarding this issue. This resulted in a delay in the council being able to notify parents.

“We at Amey are very sorry this issue has occurred.”

The schools affected were Pirniehall Primary and St David’s Primary, Oxgangs Primary, Craigroyston Primary, Braidburn Special School and Forthview Primary.