UK Parliament body accepts Indian-origin 'chicken king's

A parliamentary committee today concluded its probe into hygiene standards in the UK's poultry processing sector after serious breaches exposed at one of the factories owned by Indian-origin "chicken king" Ranjit Singh Boparan and accepted his assurance of safety measures.
The House of CommonsEnvironment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) committee ruled that while the breach at Boparan's 2 Sisters' factory in West Bromwichwas "not a one-off", it has accepted his written assurance of additional safety measures at all his plants.
"We were pleased to hear of the short- and medium-term steps he is taking to prevent a re-occurrence and future stoppages in his plant. We request that Mr Boparan continues to update us on his progress in both installing these new measures and on re-establishing his supplier relationship with the main retailers," the report notes.

Several major supermarket chains had ended their poultry contract with the factory after a joint 'Guardian' and ITV News undercover investigation had revealed an instance of workers at the West Bromwich plant altering the source and slaughter date of poultry being processed at Site D, potentially rendering it unsafe.
Other sections of the footage, which was filmed in August, showedchickenbeing picked off the floor and thrown back on to the production line, and older poultry being mixed with fresher birds.
The EFRA report was critical of the findings against 2 Sisters, one of the UKs largest suppliers of processed poultry, but it directed its severest criticism at the countrys food safety monitoring agencies, including the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

The report notes: "The problems identified at the 2 Sisters plant at West Bromwich are not a one-off. The past record of the 2 Sisters Food Group is far from pristine and there are valid questions to be asked of its corporate governance structure.

"That being the case,we are concerned at the apparent laxity of the oversight of the Site D facility, an incredibly important part of the poultry food chain. Any risk management assessment which did not give this plant the highest priority and the most stringent levels of scrutiny is flawed.
Boparans written assurances to EFRA have been logged in the report, which includes placing a full time FSA inspector at all his poultry plants; inviting the parliamentary committee to visit a 2 Sisters Food Group plant, announced or unannounced; installing CCTV with complete coverage in all poultry plants within 120 days; and implanting mystery workers into all poultry factories by the end of January 2018.

Neil Parish, the MP who chairs EFRA, said the commitments are now on public record and the committee will be closely monitoring their implementation with a view to investigating further if required.
"It is important that consumers in both the UK and in our vital export markets feel confident in the quality of our food standards. We have made it quite clear that we take his assurances very seriously. We will be closely monitoring their implementation," he said.
The FSAs own investigation into the 2 Sisters Food Group, which owns 12 sites across the UK, has been widened to cover all operations across England and Wales, which process around 6 million chickens a week.

Food Standards Scotland will be looking at the companys Coupar Angus site in Scotland.
A spokesperson for 2 Sisters said: "We note the content of the [EFRA] report and look forward to updating the committee on progress in the new year.