The Food Standards Agency is to review practices in meat cutting plants following the serious non-compliance issues at 2 Sisters Food Group and Russell Hume.
The FSA, along with Food Standards Scotland (FSS), announced this week that they will be undertaking a review of meat cutting premises and cold stores.
The review, which will be established later this month, comes in the wake of serious non-compliance issues identified at cutting plants operated by 2 Sisters Food Group and Russell Hume.
The moves will be industry wide. Heather Hancock, Chairman of the FSA said that in the last six months, the FSA have faced two serious incidents involving major players in the meat sector.
“People rightly expect food businesses to keep to the rules, rules designed to keep consumers safe and to sustain public trust in food - and food businesses have a duty to follow the regulations,” Ms Hancock said.
“In the light of these recent incidents, the FSA and FSS will be taking forward reviews of cutting plants and cold stores used for meat. Further details will be published later this month and the results will be fully available to the public.”
Russell Hume investigation
The FSA investigation continues and the areas of interest for the investigation include the extended use of use by dates, and the food safety management system that the business has in place.
Jason Feeney, Chief Executive of the FSA said the investigation into the major non-compliances found is "intensifying".
“We have already stopped these plants producing meat products, have ensured the withdrawal and disposal of the products and now we are looking at the root cause of the incident and any culpability,” Mr Feeney explained.
“The investigation is looking into all aspects of the business to establish more details about the serious and widespread problems that we identified. This will then determine whether additional enforcement action should be taken. Therefore we will be unable to make any further comments on the detail of the investigation.
Mr Feeney added: “It remains the case that there is no indication that people have become ill from eating meat supplied by Russell Hume and we continue to assess the situation working with the relevant public health bodies.”
