UK supermarkets launch investigations into chicken supplies

Three major supermarkets in the UK have launched investigations into their chicken supplies following an investigation that uncovered alleged hygiene failings at factories.

A newspaper reported specific instances of hygiene lapses such as a factory floor flooded with chicken gut and carcasses coming into contact with workers' boots and then being returned to the production line.

According to the report the allegations related to two of the largest UK poultry processors, 2 Sisters Food Group and Faccenda.

The allegations have been denied by both companies. The newspaper's report was based on undercover footage, photographic evidence and information from whistleblowers relating to industry hygiene standards for the prevention of contamination of chicken with the campylobacter bug.

Tesco, Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer confirmed launching investigations into their chicken sources over the last week.

According to the most recent figures from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) 65 per cent of raw shop-bought chicken was contaminated with campylobacter, the most common identified cause of UK food poisoning.

In Scotland, a health alert had been issued after over 1,000 people took ill with vomiting and diarrhoea in five weeks, a figure that was higher by 27 per cent on the average figure for the same period in the past three years.

Meanwhile, Tesco said it took the allegations of poor practice against one of its suppliers extremely seriously, and had launched an immediate investigation.

It said, "Customers can be assured that we conduct our own stringent quality checks on fresh chicken received from suppliers before it is placed on shelves, so we can be confident that it meets our very high quality and safety standards."

Sainsbury's responded, "Customers can be confident in the safety of products bought from our stores. We perform regular independent and in-house checks to ensure these standards are met and are investigating these allegations with 2 Sisters."

According to M&S, "We take food safety very seriously and regularly audit all of our suppliers to ensure they meet our strict codes of practice. We do not tolerate any alleged breach of our standards and have launched an immediate investigation into these allegations."

Asda had referred enquiries to its suppliers and according to Nando's and KFC, they were confident in their suppliers.

Aldi said, "We take any claims of this nature very seriously. Aldi works with our suppliers to ensure the high standards we expect are adhered to."