Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant chains, Wetherspoons and Greene King pubs are some of the names caught in a meat hygiene crisis.
Meat supplier Russell Hume has been ordered to cancel all its deliveries after investigators suspected 'serious non-compliance' with food safety rules, the Sun reports.
Yesterday, it was reported that Wetherspoons' pubs had been forced to remove the steaks from their Steak Night menus, but now it appears the problem is bigger than previously thought.
Restaurants and pubs, including chains such as Tiger Tiger and Marston's pubs, schools, care homes and holiday firms are all reported to be affected.
A Wetherspoons spokesperson told the Sun: "The product recall was a precautionary measure because of mislabelling. We have no reason to believe the product was unsafe to eat."
The Food Standards Agency has told restaurants and other customers that if they have unused meat from Russell Hume they should dispose of it immediately.
The warning was issued following an inspection on the premises on 12 January, but it's reported that affected customers weren't told until two days ago.
Professor Chris Elliott, from the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen's University Belfast, told the paper: "This will further undermine trust in the entire UK food industry. This is potentially one of the biggest food scandals since horsemeat."
A spokesperson for the Jamie Oliver Group has said no affected food had been sold to customer. They told the Telegraph: "All Russell Hume meat was removed from restaurants as soon as we were notified on Monday. This was a day before the FSA asked for meat to be removed. We also immediately switched suppliers.
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Jamie Oliver speaking to Channel 5 about the horse meat scandal in 2013. Credit: Channel 5
"We have very strict higher welfare and food standards and to ensure our suppliers uphold these standards, we have an independent team that audits all our key suppliers, including meat. Following an inspection at the end of last year and the fact we have full traceability on our meat, we can confirm that none of the meat we buy would have been impacted."
According to the Sun, Russell Hume appears to have gone into shutdown and no one has responded to requests for comments by the paper.
In a statement on the Food Standards Agency website, it said all products have been stopped from leaving their sites "until the business can provide assurances that they are complying with the relevant legislation, and that they are producing safe food."
It continues: "We have also instructed Russell Hume to undertake a withdrawal of all affected product in the supply chain.
"There is no indication that people have become ill from eating meat supplied by Russell Hume.
"However, we are concerned about the poor practices in place at their premises so that is why we have taken proportionate action to ensure no meat can leave their sites at present. We are continuing to assess the situation."
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Sources: The Sun; Food Standards Agency; The Telegraph
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Food, UK News, Jamie Oliver, Wetherspoons