Uknowing UK supermarkerts could have sold rotten meat for years, a new investigation claims.
According to reporting by The Telegraph, grocery retail giants were carrying out urgent checks and “double checking” that products containing processed meat by the company in question were no longer available in stores.
The midland-based firm, which cannot be named for legal reasons, was the producer of items including ready meals, sandwiches and quiches that were sold in Tesco, Asda, Co-op, Morrisons and M&S, and is now at the centre of a criminal investigation.
The firm’s factory also supplied Oscar Mayer, who manufacturers food for supermarkets including Sainsbury’s, Aldi and Subway.
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However following checks, retailers are said to be positive that there are no current food safety issues and the factory producing these products is closed.
The investigation by Farmers Weekly alleged that “rotting” pork was combined with fresh meat before being processed.
It also claimed that frozen meat was sometimes thawed out on the factory floor, with the “criminal practices” having gone on for “at least two decades” and are thought to have continued on after 2020.
A source told the magazine that most rotten meat was sent to schools, hospitals, care homes and prisons, with retailers only knowing of any allegations after the investiagtion was published on Wednesday.
As a result, last week three people were arrested at the factory amid a police raid, with trading standards officers present.
While these were made over an alleged mislabelling of foreign-sourced meat as British, the Food Standards Agency said its National Food Crime Unit was looking into “potential food hygiene breaches.”
Although the FSA made retailers and suppliers aware of the alleged mislabelling of food from an unamed supplier to a single unnamed retailer in January 2022, Farmers Weekly claimed the government department has been aware of these claims at the factory since 2020.
A source was also said to have sent evidence to the FSA several years prior.
National Food Crime Unit head, Darren Davies told the magazine: “The FSA’s National Food Crime Unit is carrying out a criminal investigation into how a supplier was allegedly providing products labelled as British when they were in fact sourced from elsewhere.
“This is a complex and live investigation and we are looking into all new lines of enquiry with our partner organisations, including any potential food hygiene breaches at the premises. If any evidence of a food safety risk is found, then necessary action will be taken.”
