Kitchens stocked with food two years old

Flashback: the CNJ September 9, 2004

SCHOOL dinners in Camden have been prepared in filthy kitchens stocked with food more than two years out of date, according to a damning dossier obtained by the New Journal.
The six-inch thick file of correspondence between the Town Hall and catering firm Scolarest raises concerns about hygiene and food standards at a dozen schools across the borough.
Its release, obtained using powers under the Freedom of Information Act, comes just a week after it emerged that banned Thai chicken and mice were found in Parliament Hill School’s kitchen.
The file, detailing the findings of council inspectors, reveals that:
• Rancid lard which cooks had been ordered to destroy a month earlier was used in “disgusting” cookies and crumbles at St Alban’s Primary in Holborn.
• A tray of burnt, inedible biscuits sent to Emmanuel Primary in West Hampstead was covered with a “deceitful layer of good ones placed on top”. Kitchens were so filthy the headteacher cleaned them herself.
• Eggs a month past their use-by date were found at New End Primary in Hampstead, where the cook prepared meals a day early against council rules.
• Staff shortages forced teachers to serve lunch at Hampstead School, where almonds two years past their use-by date and sauces and drinks five months out of date were in stock.
• Teachers at Hawley Infants in Camden Town were forced to buy extra sandwiches for hungry pupils after Scolarest ignored repeated warnings that not enough food was being served.
• Crisps two months past their use-by date were given to pupils on a day trip at Richard Cobden Primary in Camden Town.
•“Appalling” cleanliness at Jack Taylor School in South Hampstead.
• Children at Gospel Oak School eating “nothing more than some mashed potato and rice pudding” when Scolarest attempted to improve standards.
The file also shows that, despite repeated complaints from parents, teachers and pupils over a two-year period, Scolarest has only been fined once for poor performance by Camden Council.
That fine – given after a failed inspection at Holy Trinity and St Silas Primary in Camden Town – cost Scolarest less than £400 of its £2.3 million-a-year contract with the Town Hall.
Officials told the firm they had been lenient in other cases where they could have issued fines but did not.
Parents campaigning for improvements to school dinners have repeated demands that Scolarest should lose its contract.
Councillor Piers Wauchope, leader of the Tory opposition at the Town Hall, said: “More money needs to be in the budget to deal with this. It’s not enough to have a review with no extra funds.”
A Town Hall press official said: “School meals have improved considerably since last year, when most of the correspondence dates from, and Camden continues to work hard to make further improvements.
“Camden Council is reviewing school meals and, on May 25, we will come forward with a long-term plan to deliver the high quality and nutritious meals we are committed to providing.”
A Scolarest spokesman said: “Regular meetings between the council, schools and Scolarest seek to identify issues at an early stage so they can be addressed, and the council itself believes the standard of school meals service is much improved.
“Trials of the new enhanced menus within selected Camden schools, funded by Scolarest, have been well received by pupils, parents and teachers with increased take-up and excellent feedback.
“Scolarest recently presented the new menus to a tasting panel comprising council members, headteachers and governors and is in discussion with Camden to roll out the new menus across the contract from the autumn term.”
Parents can complete a questionnaire which will feed into the Town Hall’s review of school dinners at http://www3.camden.gov.uk/schooldinners/