US school chef cooks up a storm by using kangaroo meat in dish

The principal of the prestigious Nebraskan school has vowed “kangaroo meat will never be used again”, although he said there was no question about it being a healthy food. He apologised for the “anxiety” the serving of kangaroo may have caused students and their families.

The Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia said “at least the students got to enjoy one of the best healthy meats you can have”. “It looked like it was fantastic opportunity for them to enjoy a really healthy meat,” KIAA executive officer Dennis King said.

The US is one of the big markets for Australian kangaroo meat, and it is sold widely in supermarkets, although it is banned in the state of California.

But in Nebraska the issue hit a wall when chef Kevin Frei, thought he was doing the right thing by using a lean cut of meat for the student hall kitchen chili dish at Potter-Dix school. The kangaroo meat was blended in with beef in the chili dish.

But when alerted by parents the superintendent Mike Williams was ropeable. Mr Williams said he didn’t want to see " exotic meat ever used again at the school, period”.

“We will no way be serving food of this nature again This is a matter I’m taking very seriously,” he said ina public letter. “I do not think that kangaroo meat is unhealthy or dangerous. It has to meet USDA standards in order for companies to sell it but it is without a doubt not a normal staple of our diet. I apologize (sic) for the anxiety and any harm that has caused individual students/ and or families.”