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Parents can be reassured school meals are free from horsemeat thanks to stringent checks required by Derbyshire County Council, according to the council's cabinet member for education Mike Longden.

He said school meals provided by the authority’s school meals service used meat produced on two local organic farms.

Products were subject to a full tracing exercise, which detailed exactly where the beef was from, full details of the animals from which they were made and the organic accreditations of the farms.

No ready meals were used as all dinners were fully prepared by the catering service.

Councillor Longden added: “In the wake of the national concern this issue is causing I’m keen to pre-empt any worries parents might have by making it clear our school meals meet the very highest standards.

“We have a supplier who provides our fresh mince and they are subject to regular checks.

“Our school meals service itself is checked to ensure the products we use are of the right quality.

“We work very hard to make sure our meals offer the best possible value for money to parents and never compromise on quality.”

The authority carries out random and regular checks with all suppliers to be sure everything used in school meals contains what it is supposed to.

County council trading standards officers also take yearly samples of the products used to confirm products are not contaminated.