Prison bosses ticked off by buying and selling requirements for utilizing faux cheese in lags’ meals
Prison chiefs have been given a ticking off by trading standards bosses for serving up ‘cheesy’ dishes made with fake cheese.
Trading Standards bosses have given words of ‘advice’ to prison chiefs at HMP Coldingley, a 510-capacity jail in Surrey, saying some dishes should not be called ‘cheesy’ on jail menus. A recent report into the jail found that some cheese used in jail kitchens and sold to lags in the ‘tuck shop’ – aka canteen – is actually 79% water, palm oil and starch – with just 19% being actually cheese.
The remaining 2% is sunflower oil, salt, and ‘milk solids’. After being raised with Surrey County Council’s Trading Standards department, the jail was given ‘advice’ about not calling dishes ‘cheesy’ if they didn’t contain ‘real’ cheese.
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This includes ‘common’ prison dishes like macaroni cheese, cauliflower cheese, cheese salad, cheesy pasta and baked potatoes with cheese – and some pizzas.
Debbie LeShirley, a senior trading standards officers at the council, told prisoners’ newspaper Inside Time in the latest December edition that legislation was in place to deal with the matter.
She said that the fake ‘cheese’ – called ‘analogue cheese’, which costs as little as £6 per kilo – should not be labelled as real cheese.
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She said: “In order that consumers are not misled, it should be made clear prior to, or at the point of service, that a product contains analogue cheese.
“This requirement included prisons, hospital and schools.”
She added: “The legislation does apply to prison food, however the options for enforcement do differ from those for retail premises.
“Due to the potential complexity of such an investigation, it may be that the matter can be effectual managed by means of advice to the local prison governor.”
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She said that describing a dish as containing cheese, when it actually contains ‘analogue cheese’, was an offence under the Food Safety Act 1990, which outlaws inaccurate descriptions of foods.
She added: “Our Business Advice Team will be making contact with the prison to offer advice on food descriptions.”
So-called ‘analogue cheese’ – also called ‘cheese alternatives’ – are packed with oils, water and proteins and used as cheap replacements for real cheese.
One of the ‘analogue cheeses’ sold to prisoners in the jail tuck shop, called canteen – and used in jail kitchens – is made by Kerrymaid, and supplied to jails by Bidfood.
Called ‘mild and creamy grated white’ it is not labelled as ‘cheese’, and must now be referred to as ‘analogue cheese’ in the jail.
The IMB report into HMP Coldingley stated: “The Board noted prisoners’ frequent complaints about the poor quality of cheese, which is 79% water, palm oil, and starch, and only 19% cheddar cheese.”
One IMB worker said they tasted the product and that it ‘bore very little resemblance to cheese…and had no taste’.
A Prison Service spokesperson said that prisoners were provided with ‘three healthy meals a day’ and that the meals meet ‘nutritional guidelines set out by the Food Standards Agency and the Department of Health’.
