WHEN WILL THE MEAT HYGIENE SCANDALS STOP?

On the 20th February 2018, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) met with the Meat Industry, to discuss concerns arising from the recent examples of non-compliance with food hygiene, in what they state is a small number of Meat Cutting Plants. The link to this is below: https://www.food.gov.uk/news-updates/news/2018/16915/joint-statement-food-standards-agency-food-standards-scotland-and-representatives-of-the-uk-meat-industry However, on 23rd February 2018, an article in the Guardian newspaper, carried out in conjunction with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, revealed that “almost two thirds of audited meat plants were in breach of safety rules in England, Wales and Northern Ireland”(Scotland has its own FSA). The article also stated that, “On average, 16 major failings (were) recorded every week over the past three years”. This information was gained from research into FSA audits. Five hundred and forty out of 890 meat cutting factories, had at least one instance of major non-compliance with food hygiene safety regulations. The FSA’s definition of a major non-compliance is “likely to compromise public health, including food safety”. The link to the full article is below: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/23/fear-of-uk-meat-scandal-as-data-shows-hygiene-breaches-at-most-plants We would like to thank the Bureau of Investigation and the Guardian for bringing this to the attention of the public. WM MORRISONS We received a very disappointing response from WM Morrisons, to our letter sent to them on 16-2-2018. Their reply of 21-2-2018 is below: “Thank you for contacting us. As a reputable Company we work in close liaison with the relevant Authorities to ensure that the standards we aim to achieve do not fall below acceptable levels. You can be certain that we will continue to do everything we possibly can to ensure this aim is achieved and maintained. We pay close attention to standards of personal hygiene which is of paramount importance in the Food Industry. Scrupulous attention is paid to the provision of clean protective clothing and the wearing of suitable hair and beard coverings, which must completely enclose the hair; any deviation is not tolerated for people working in a food handling environment. You can be certain that the store’s General Manager has taken any action necessary to ensuring that our more usual very high standards continue to be properly maintained. We do everything we possibly can at Morrisons to look after our Customers well. I assure you we will only sell what we are satisfied are quality foods which have been fully evaluated for safety against the most rigorous standards. Thank you once again for taking the time and trouble to contact us. I hope that you will accept the enclosed shopping voucher/s as a gesture of our goodwill and in recognition of any inconvenience caused to you in pursuing this matter with us and I trust that having been able to give you every reassurance regarding our commitment to ensuring the highest standards of quality prevail we may continue to serve you at Morrisons. Kind regards” With the issue of them offering us shopping vouchers, our reply dated 22-2-2018 was as follows: “Thank you for the reply. Unfortunately, your reply does not cover the questions asked, in the letter to your Chief Executive, Mr. Potts, relating to the company’s position on the FSA keeping meat hygiene inspections independent. Please do not send me any vouchers, as I would have to return them on the basis that they are insignificant when talking about issues that affect people’s health. You may or may not be aware, that bacterium such as E.coli O157 from meat products, can lead to death, brain damage, kidney failure, or other long term illnesses”. THE CO-OPERATIVE We sent our letter to the Co-op’s Chief Executive, Mr S Murrells on 11-1-2018, and are still awaiting a response. This is despite resending it to them again on 16-2-2018. ASDA We are still awaiting a reply to our letter sent to them on 8-2-2018. ICELAND We are still awaiting a reply to our letter sent to them on 16-2-2-2018. Please keep on using Twitter or Facebook, to promote this petition. Thank you all so much for your continued comments & support. You have been fantastic!