A parliamentary investigation into the 2 Sisters chicken scandal has concluded that the problems at the West Midlands plant are "not a one-off".
A chicken processing plant run by the 2 Sisters Food Group in the West Midlands had a "far from pristine" past record, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA) said. It said the scandal should act as a "wake-up call".
The damning report has looked into food hygiene and safety issues at the 2 Sisters chicken processing plant, which was initially reported by a joint The Guardian and ITV News investigation.
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.
Food inspection
EFRA's report will be viewed as a scathing critique of the food safety inspection regime, which involves the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and local authorities assessing food production facilities.
The committee recommended that these bodies should start pooling their intelligence, that the FSA’s food crime unit should receive an increased budget and that compulsory CCTV monitoring of all meat-cutting plants should be considered.
“For an industry which takes pride in the quality of its produce, we were surprised to hear of the apparently patchwork nature of the accreditation process,” the MPs said.
“It appears relatively simple for someone to game the system and hide infractions – by opting out of unannounced visits by the accreditors for example – and the lack of joined-up intelligence and knowledge-sharing seemingly presents many gaps into which misdemeanours can fall.
“We trust that all accreditation firms, not just those who appeared before us, will use this incident as a wake-up call to tighten their processes and remove some of the more obvious loopholes.”
'Wake up call'
EFRA Chairman Neil Parish said: "Our inquiry should serve as a wake-up call for all accreditation firms and cause them to improve their processes and remove any loopholes that may exist, not just those discovered through our inquiry
"Food supply chains are sensitive and easy to disrupt when retailers and consumers lose confidence in food quality or safety.
"Large producers and retailers have a responsibility to protect, rather than undermine, the UK's food producers."
Ranjit Sign Boparan has apologised for the scandal engulfing the company after being grilled by MPs.
