Slaughterhouse failings ‘allow contaminated meat into food chain’

Fears of contaminated meat entering the food chain because of “failings” at slaughterhouses have been raised by workers in the industry.

A survey of meat hygiene inspectors by Unison found that virtually all of them said the industry could not be trusted to ensure no faecal contamination was present before meat was sold on to consumers, and staff directly employed by the industry could not be trusted to recognise and remove diseased sections of meat.

The majority of the 110 inspectors polled said they did not believe the Food Standards Agency (FSA) was truly independent of the industry. The survey also revealed a picture of “endemic workplace bullying”.

Dave Prentis, the Unison general secretary said: “This is a grim wake-up call that some parts of the meat industry are being allowed to ride roughshod over the interests of the consumer.”

The FSA said: “Our meat hygiene inspectors, who are wholly separate from the meat industry, carry out an invaluable job by making sure the meat which people eat is safe.

“We are disappointed with any accusation of bullying and take any allegation very seriously.”