One of the UK's largest supermarket chicken suppliers has suspended production at one of its main processing plants after an investigation allegedly exposed food safety breaches.
The 2 Sisters Food Group said staff at its site in the West Midlands will need to be "appropriately retrained" before it starts resupplying customers.
Tesco has joined a boycott of the poultry group’s West Midlands plant in the wake of a joint undercover investigation by the Guardian and ITV News. Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer, Aldi and Lidl have joined the boycott too.
Over 12 working days of undercover filming, reporters recorded evidence that the firm, owned by the so-called 'Chicken King' Ranjit Sign Boparan, was putting customers at risk by tampering with food safety records.
Changing the records means the meat would be untraceable in the event of an outbreak of food poisoning.
When meats of different ages were mixed together, the slaughter date of the newest batch rather than the oldest batch would be used, employees claimed.
Some workers also claimed the chicken that supermarkets reject is sometimes repackaged at the factory and sent out again.
'Shocked and distressed'
2 Sisters Food Group said in a statement on Sunday (1 October): "We are shocked and distressed by the allegations and the footage which we saw for the first time on Thursday September 28th.
"Since the allegations were put to us by the Guardian/ITV, we have been working around the clock to get to the truth of the matter.
"We responded immediately by launching our own internal investigation at our West Bromwich plant and invited the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to independently review our standards.
"The FSA has been in daily attendance since the allegations were raised and confirmed that it has not identified any breaches.
"However, our internal investigation has shown some isolated instances of non-compliance with our own quality management systems.
"We have therefore decided to temporarily suspend operations at the site to allow us the time to retrain all colleagues including management in all food safety and quality management systems.
"All colleagues will remain on full pay and will attend site whilst training is undertaken. We will only recommence supply once we are satisfied that our colleagues have been appropriately retrained."
'No evidence'
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said that it had found no evidence of breaches during an inspection of the plant following the allegations.
But it said it was still reviewing evidence, saying: "If any incidences of non-compliance are found we will take prompt and proportionate action with the business concerned, working closely with the local authority."
2 Sisters Food Group is the UK’s second largest food company by turnover and claims to process around 6 million chickens every week.
