Patients at Croydon University Hospital have not been served meals containing horse meat, suppliers have assured. 

Bosses at Croydon NHS Trust sought assurances that none its beef products were implicated in the contaminated meat scandal after the Food Standards Agency urged public bodies to ensure they had "rigorous procurement procedures" in places.

Suppliers provided laboratory test results to show that none of their food was implicated.

Peter Downes, catering manager at Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, said: "I personally take the quality of the food that we provide to the patients, staff and visitors very seriously.

"None of the companies that supply our beef products are those who have been listed as the companies that have had their products contaminated by horse meat; all of our suppliers are nominated under the NHS procurement framework which incorporates rigorous food safety guidelines.

"Even so, I have spoken to each of them individually to ensure that the food that we serve is free of horse meat.

"They have provided me with assurances, including laboratory analysis of their products, that we are not serving food which has been subject to this contamination."