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Top supermarket supplier ‘fiddled use-by dates’ and is accused of duping shoppers into buying out-of date meat
A MAJOR chicken supplier has been accused of duping shoppers into buying meat past its use-by date.
An undercover probe found workers apparently altering “kill dates” at a 2 Sisters Food Group plant.
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Meat of different ages was also mixed together and codes on crates of meat were changed, it is alleged.
Supermarket poultry typically has a use-by date around ten days after slaughter.
Birmingham-based 2 Sisters produces a third of all poultry products eaten in the UK, supplying stores including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Aldi and Lidl.
Recordings at its West Bromwich plant also suggested portions returned by supermarket distributors were repackaged and sent out again.
The reporter also claimed to have seen employees at the multi-million pound business returning potentially contaminated chicken to the production line after it had fallen on the floor.
And staff were said to alter records of where birds were slaughtered, potentially hindering any future recall of contaminated meat.
One worker told the ITV/Guardian probe he changed kill dates “lots of times”.
He added: “My supervisor, he asked me do it. If you are buying fresh chicken it can be older chicken.”
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ITV News and the Guardian said in a statement that more than 20 workers had confirmed the unhygienic practices took place while some said they will no longer eat chicken from supermarkets.
Prof Chris Elliott, a food safety expert, said: “This absolutely calls out for a full investigation.”
Entrepreneur Ranjit Singh Boparan, said to be worth £544million, owns 2 Sisters.
He founded it in 1993 and now employs 23,000 staff.
Although it has diversified, the bulk of the group's income still comes from processing poultry.
Mr Boparan and his wife Baljinder have a fortune of £544 million, according to the Sunday Times.
The firm said it had not had enough time or detail to respond to the “false” allegations, which it took “extremely seriously”.
It said it was subject to regular inspections by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and other hygiene standards organisations.
The FSA said: "The Food Standards Agency takes any allegations of inaccurate labelling and breaches in hygiene regulations very seriously.
Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Aldi and Sainsbury's each issued statements saying they were investigating the allegations.
A Lidl UK spokesperson said: “Lidl UK takes the issue of food safety extremely seriously and, as such, we conduct independent audits to ensure that our high quality and safety standards are met.
"Therefore, we are very disappointed to learn of these allegations and will be urgently investigating this matter with the supplier.”
