The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is now investigating into one of the largest supermarket providers of chickens in the U.K. An undercover reporter, working on a joint investigationfor the Guardian and ITV, revealed that workers were changing slaughter dates to extend the chickens' shelf life. This meant that chickens of different ages were mixed together, with codes being changed on crates of meat.
2 Sisters Food Group in the West Midlands provides chickens for Marks and Spencer, Aldi, Lidl, Tesco and Sainsbury’s, all of whom are conducting their own investigations amid the allegations. Aldi and Marks and Spencer have both suspended buying chickens from the food group.
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Undercover footage has been released by The Guardian and ITV News team which features workers at the company confirming that they had been asked to change the ‘kill dates’ of chickens on several occasions. Altering the kill dates could cause the incorrect use-by date to be printed on the chickens, which is, in fact, an illegal offence as they are there for safety reasons.
As well as all this, the undercover footage also revealed that chicken portions sent back from supermarkets were simply repackaged by 2 Sisters and sent back out, instead of being replaced. Workers were caught altering the locations of where chickens were slaughtered which could baffle authorities if meat was ever needed to be recalled during food scares. Disgusting? Yep. But wait, there’s more.
What’s possibly the most shocking, and vile, revelation is that chickens would be dropped on the floor and then returned to the production line instead of being discarded, meaning that chicken sold in nationwide supermarkets could have possibly been contaminated with a whole realm of bacteria. Not only is this repulsive, it’s ridiculously dangerous.
Food safety academic, Professor Chris Elliot, who led the Government’s review of food systems after the 2013 horsemeat scandal said ‘over the past three to four years I have conducted many inspections of food businesses right across the UK. I have never seen one operate under such poor standards as your video evidence shows.’
2 Sister’s Food Group issued a statement that explains how they have not had enough time to respond to the allegations, but that they view them very seriously.
It’s almost horrid enough to turn me veggie for good, but instead of being drastic perhaps I’ll just ditch the supermarket for my local butcher.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.