Spoiled meat may have been sold to customers in UK supermarkets for decades

A British meat processor supplying leading supermarkets, schools and hospitals has been accused of passing off large quantities of potentially unsafe foreign meat as British.

The National Food Crime Unit, part of the Food Standards Agency, has reportedly launched a full investigation.

Consumers have been left in the dark about what could be a massive scandal, while a major industry trade body is furious that they were not informed of the investigation.

The details emerged about a decade after the crisis, when horsemeat was sold as beef in burgers and ready meals by major supermarkets, including Tesco, and fast food chains.

The allegations were uncovered by Farmers’ Weekly and are based on testimonies from company employees, who have not been named pending criminal prosecution.

The company was accused by former employees of regularly “washing” visibly damaged hams and mixing rotten pork with fresh produce for further processing.

Other products such as oyster tongues were not heated properly and meat was sometimes thawed in the workshop.

It is also alleged that the sampling papers, which would pick up dangerous food bugs such as Listeria and E. coli, were forged.

Indirect deliveries have also been made to schools, hospitals, nursing homes and prisons, with one source claiming that this is where the most spoiled meat ends up.

An anonymous employee told Farmers Weekly: “It used to get me to a point where I thought we were going to kill someone.” Another said: “There were days I sat outside in my car crying because I didn’t want to go in. It was so bad.’ There is no indication that any of the processor’s customers knew about the criminal activity, which continued for at least two decades into 2020 and possibly beyond.

The head of the National Food Crime Unit, Darren Davies, said retailers were made aware of the problem last year but there had been no public announcement about the potentially massive scandal.

Schools, hospitals, nursing homes and prisons were also indirectly supplied, with one source claiming that this is where the most spoiled meat would end up (stock photo)

He said: “The FSA’s National Food Crime Unit is conducting a criminal investigation into how a supplier allegedly supplied produce labeled as British when in fact it came from elsewhere.

“Last year, the FSA advised retailers to monitor their cooked meat supply chain and be extra careful in their audits. We do not issue these warnings without reason.”

The food wholesalers supplied by the processor are shocked by the allegations and are conducting their own investigations.

The Association of Independent Meat Suppliers (Aims), which represents processors, accused the Food Crime Unit of failing to inform them of their investigation.

The group’s chief operating officer, Norman Bagley, said: “It is inexcusable that food manufacturers and food service companies, some of which supply society’s most vulnerable consumers, were not warned at any stage by the NFCU that there was either a possibility of a labeling of fraud or a danger to public health.”