UK meat company 2 Sisters Food Group is resuming production at its West Bromwich poultry plant, after allegations in relation to food safety and hygiene caused operations to be suspended.
Last month, an investigation published by The Guardian and news organisation ITV alleged that a number of food-safety issues had arisen at the 2 Sisters poultry factory, which supplies chicken to top UK supermarkets, including Tesco, Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer, Aldi and Lidl.
Undercover footage showed workers reportedly repackaging meat that had been returned to the factory by supermarket distribution centres, returning chicken to the production line after it had been dropped on the floor, and altering records of where and when chickens were slaughtered.
Investigation
This week, the 2 Sisters factory is set to be reopened, 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 (FSA).
Supermarket giant Tesco has confirmed that it will begin to receive orders from the site again in the coming days as a result of these changes.
"We are satisfied the issues have been addressed and work will now be carried out to our high production standards," said a Tesco spokesperson. "We’ll continue to work with 2 Sisters and the FSA as the site gets back up and running.”
Marks & Spencer and Aldi have also said that they will resume taking supplies from the factory, according to The Guardian.
Sainsbury's, however, said it had no plans to resume supplies from the West Bromwich facility.
The 2 Sisters Food Group is the UK’s second-largest food company by turnover, operating 12 production sites in the country.
© 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.
