The Ritz in London has become the capital's first hotel to offer diners certified organic meals following its successful move to be licensed by the Soil Association, the UK's largest organic certified body.

A range of organic meat, salad and vegetable products are to be offered on the hotel's á la carte menu, including Caesar salad with bacon lardons and tian of provencal vegetables with vine tomato coulis.

Giles Shepard, deputy chairman of the hotel sayid: 'The Ritz, London has won many awards and is acclaimed for its high standard of service. We are committed to providing the best quality food and organic certification is a natural extension of these standards - it is part of our unfailing quest for excellence that we undertake on behalf of our guests.' To attain certification, The Ritz Restaurant had to fulfil a certain number of requirements. All ingredients must come from recognised organic suppliers and separate preparation areas have been set aside for organic ingredients.

Helen Taylor, business development director at the Soil Association added, 'The Soil Association provides a specialist catering certification service, at reasonable cost, to enterprises looking to achieve organic status. We hope the successful introduction of the organic choices at the Ritz, London will encourage other restaurants to consider the benefits of certification.'

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