A livid Jamie Oliver vowed yesterday that "heads
would roll" after finding out one of his restaurants has been
serving eggs from battery chickens.
The news is a major embarrassment for the chef, just days after his
campaigning TV show Jamie's Fowl Dinners revealed the grim reality
of battery hen egg production.
And the blow itself couldn't have arrived with worse timing - a
chicken farmer was given the battery egg at Fifteen Cornwall while
the primetime show was shown on Channel 4 last Friday.
The farmer used his mobile to take pictures while being given a
tour of the restaurant kitchen by a waiter.
Jamie told the Mirror yesterday: "I am speechless. We have cast
iron rules on what any chef can and cannot buy in all
Fifteens.
"I can't stop thinking it seems a coincidence this one-off has
happened the week my programme airs. I've never been so
disappointed. Heads will roll."
Jamie is trustee of the 15 Foundation charity and founder of all
four Fifteen restaurants.
It has emerged Fifteen Cornwall bought 360 battery chicken eggs
when a regular supplier of free range eggs let them down.
The farmer who found the egg was eating with 12 pals - including
some battery chicken farmers - who were attending a wedding in the
area.
A source said: "The farmer asked to see an egg. A waiter brought
him an egg but the customer said 'This is a battery chicken
egg'.
"The staff were shocked a chef could make such a stupid mistake -
everyone is upset and the remaining battery eggs were thrown
away.
People at the restaurant feel really strongly about free range eggs
and thinks Jamie's campaign is brilliant.
"I feel somebody should be sacked over this, but I don't know if it
will happen."
Restaurant chief executive Dave Meneer said: "We can only apologise
and have taken steps to ensure this cannot happen again.
"We are very sorry for any embarrassment this may have caused
Jamie. I'm sure it is the last thing he needed.
"I was at home watching Jamie on TV when this happened - the timing
was amazing, you just couldn't have written the script. I barely
believed it when I was told - but it's a fair cop.
"We were too complacent and should have checked the source. I could
go throwing my weight around firing people, but I don't see where
that gets you.
"I've got a cracking team of chefs and I need them all, but I have
been reading the riot act because this was fundamental to how we do
business."
Chefs use around 800 eggs a week at Fifteen Cornwall, which has
served 120,000 diners since opening in Watergate Bay, Newquay, in
May 2006. Some meals there cost £50 a head.
The restaurant employs 16 trainee chefs from disadvantaged
backgrounds and another 19 youngsters are in college waiting to
take up jobs.
Fifteen Cornwall boasts on its website how its eggs come from
Clarence Court in nearby Liskeard.
It says: "The hens at Clarence Court are from old-fashioned breeds
such as the Old Cotswold Legbar and the Burford Brown.
"Allowed to roam freely and given a totally natural diet, the hens
produce seriously good eggs."
GO TO WORK
The average hen lays 257 eggs a year
Britons eat nearly 10billion eggs a year; that's 26million every
day
EGGHEADS
White-shell eggs come from hens with white feathers and white ear
lobes, brown eggs are produced by red hens with red lobes