Following a Guardian report on hygiene conditions at UK poultry factories, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has launched an investigation into processes at some chicken factories that supply the UK's largest supermarkets and fast food chains.
The Guardian's report uncovered a catalogue of hygiene failings in the industry, including a factory floor covered in chicken guts in which bacteria can flourish and worker's boots touching carcasses that are then put back on the production line. Poor practices like these can lead to the spread of campylobacter bacteria - the most common form of food poisoning in the UK and a potentially deadly bug.
The findings are yet another shock in a string of supply chain disasters for large retailers, from horsemeat labelled as beef to revelations of slavery in the prawn industry.
But who is to blame for this latest failing?
Businesses have been accused of failing to react to the new challenges posed by global supply chains. They seem to be divorced from what is happening in the abattoirs they buy from and have little knowledge of the quality and origin of ingredients they sell, all in the pursuit of cheap food.
Or does blame lie with the Food Standards Agency? Tasked with policing the producer in order to protect the consumer, it does not seem to have fulfilled its role. After steering away from naming and shaming retailers and processors with poor records on campylobacter contamination, it has been accused of lack of independence from the food and farming sectors.
Or is it the consumer expectation of cheap food, and a reluctance to accept price rises, that is fueling the need for squeezed supermarkets to look for the lowest cost suppliers?
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