Hotel restaurant under fire for Dutch veal dish

One of London's top restaurants has been branded "scandalous" after an undercover investigation discovered it was using veal from outside Britain.

Double Michelin-starred chef Hélène Darroze's Espelette restaurant at The Connaught hotel served Dutch veal while its waiters claimed the meat was British.

The origin of veal is significant because animal welfare groups claim that calves raised outside Britain are kept in cruel conditions.

The delicacy is commonly created by force-feeding milk to calves and depriving them of light, space and fibre. British law requires farmers to feed calves more fibre, which makes the meat pinker. It is called British rosé veal.

Pressure group Compassion in World Farming shot a video secretly at the Espelette. It shows two waiters claiming the restaurant's £16 carpaccio of slow-cooked milk-fed veal with tuna and caper sauce is made with British meat. When asked where the veal was from, the waiter replies: "The veal is English, it is English." The customer later checks with another waiter who insists his colleague is right, saying: "I'm not sure if it's English, but it all comes from Allens across the road. He does only English meat."

Film shot inside butcher's shop Allens of Mayfair indicates the waiters were wrong. A butcher says: "A lot of people don't like it [veal], because of the way they keep it. They make them [the calves] drink milk all day ... They wouldn't allow it over here." Another member of staff confirmed the shop supplied the Connaught and other hotels with non-British veal.

Animal welfare campaigners and industry representatives called for greater transparency in restaurants.

Joyce D'Silva, Compassion in World Farming's director of public affairs, said: "It is scandalous that British hotels and restaurants are still importing veal when British farmers are raising their calves to a higher welfare standard. Shame on the Connaught for misinformation and their poor sourcing policy." Restaurant Association spokesman Miles Quest said: "It's always advisable for restaurants to be accurate in explaining what they're serving. Customers should always be told the provenance of meat."

The Connaught has taken the veal off the menu. It said: "There were some training issues within the team that meant the provenance of the veal had not been properly explained to them.

"They all know our meat comes from Allens of Mayfair and wrongly assumed the veal was British. As soon as we heard of the mistake it was explained to the whole team and we have improved all training on provenance of sources."

Allens said: "Our Dutch veal is sourced from farms that have the Foundation for Quality Guarantee of the Veal Meat Sector — the only fully inspected veal system in Europe.

"We can supply rosé veal which is British, but the standard one we stock is Dutch — which is what we supply the Connaught."