EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: That sounds fishy! Queen's caviar is not quite what it says on the tin
When the Queen is served caviar, she would expect to be offered the finest in the world, but I can reveal that the royal warrant holder has been discovered supplying a very 'fishy' product.
King's Fine Food, which also supplies top London venues including The Ritz and Claridge's hotel, is now being investigated by the Food Standards Agency after I found that the company had labelled its cheap hybrid caviar from a Belgian fish farm as luxury rare sturgeon eggs from Russia.
'It is no different to putting a cheap red wine in a rare red wine bottle and claiming it's a vintage,' a caviar expert tells me.
The luxury food giant achieved the honour of selling its products to Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace, home to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. It touts itself as the purveyor of the 'finest caviar in the world'.
The Queen may not be getting the finest caviar as expected, writes RICHARD EDEN
A tin of its product, sold for £130 at a top London restaurant, claims on the label that it is the rare and luxurious 'Platinum Stellatus' Caviar, the species name of Sevruga caviar from the Caspian Sea.
However, my investigation discovered that the eggs contained were actually the cheaper hybrid eggs made with a male Gueldenstaedtii crossed with female Baerii sturgeon.
'We are aware of reports of caviar that has been incorrectly labelled in relation to its authenticity,' a source at the Food Standards Agency tells me.
'We are assessing the information provided to us and will ensure any necessary action is taken to ensure food is what it says it is.'
King's Fine Food, which also supplies top London venues including The Ritz and Claridge's hotel, is now being investigated by the Food Standards Agency (stock image)
King's Fine Food has been in trouble before, selling caviar labelled as Sevruga to Fortnum and Mason, which a DNA test found to be cheaper, inferior eggs. At the time, King's blamed the fish farm.
Its owner, Laura King, insists it was all a misunderstanding.
'It was a printing error, but obviously the buck stops with us,' she tells me, declining to say how long it's been mislabelling its products.
'We have new labels printed and they are on the tins now. Mentioning the species on the label is not a legal requirement.'
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