Committee ‘satisfied’ with food group’s progress following chicken scandal

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee has said it is satisfied with the progress made by 2 Sisters Food Group, which was implicated in a food hygiene scandal.

Last year 2 Sisters came under fire from MPs during a parliamentary inquiry into food standards commissioned after the business was the focus of a joint investigation by The Guardian newspaper and ITV.

The investigation uncovered poor hygiene operations at the 2 Sisters’ chicken processing plant in West Bromwich, leading Marks and Spencer, Aldi, Lidl and the Co-op to stop taking chickens from the plant.

Members of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee visited the 2 Sisters Food Group’s West Bromwich plant this week.

Neil Parish MP, the committee’s chairman, told the BBC: “Meat that may have fallen on the floor is now being swept up and put into waste.”

Citing Food Standards Agency visits, on-site CCTV and labeling improvements, Mr Parish said “there has been a real tightening up of the operation and that’s what our inquiry was about”.

He added: “I think [2 Sisters has] learned a lot of lessons – I think they needed to and they’ve done it.”

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