UK meat company 2 Sisters Food Group has pledged to share all of the audit and inspection data from its poultry plants, in an effort to increase transparency in the food supply chain.
It says that it hopes that this ‘bold step’ will allow the group to provide customers and regulatory bodies with assurances about the safety, quality and provenance of its food.
The statement comes as new food-safety allegations have been made regarding the company’s production facilities.
The Guardian reports that Tesco food-standard inspectors allegedly unearthed a number of ‘major’ process issues at the 2 Sisters Coupar Angus factory, in Scotland.
In response, 2 Sisters says that it is taking these allegations ‘extremely seriously’, but believes that these reports are trying to damage the reputation of its factories and staff.
‘There is, and never was, any risk to food safety at Coupar Angus,’ a company statement read. ‘This is using old news to highlight issues which were resolved with our customer[s] two months ago.’
Safety Concerns
In October, 2 Sisters suspended operations at its West Bromwich poultry plant, after an investigation by The Guardian and news organisation ITV raised allegations in relation to food safety and hygiene.
The plant in question was reopened early last month, after the food group retrained its staff in all food-safety and quality-management systems, with procedures overseen by officials from the Food Standards Agency.
The company supplies chicken to top UK supermarkets including Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Aldi and Lidl. It is the UK’s second-largest food company by turnover, operating 12 production sites in the country.
Earlier this month, 2 Sisters announced that it was expanding production at its chicken-processing facility in Flixton to meet additional demand from its retail customers ahead of the busy Christmas period.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
