Cheap Chickens Could Cost Public Health Dear, UK
The drive to cut costs and deliver the £2.50 chicken to consumers is having a dangerous impact on standards of meat inspection in poultry slaughterhouses.
UNISON is writing this week to all the major supermarkets to alert them to the appalling consequences of the drive towards cheap meat.
As a result of deregulation, large poultry producers, who own both the farms and the abattoirs, are now allowed to employ their own untrained staff to inspect the meat, rather than the Government's highly trained and independent meat inspectors. Government meat inspectors will have had 900 hours of training.
UNISON National Officer, Ben Priestley, said: "Consumers must be told that cheap chickens could be dangerous to health. Poultry producers shouldn't be allowed to inspect themselves. There has to be an independent, rigorous inspection regime to ensure that the meat on your plate is safe to eat.
"The Food Standards Agency, that is supposed to be the guardian of public health, is allowing the industry to dictate how meat should be inspected and by whom. Using untrained staff to cut costs is dangerous and irresponsible.
"We are writing to all the major supermarkets this week to alert them to the appalling consequences of cheap meat. It is the supermarkets' responsibility to tell consumers that cheap meat equals appalling animal welfare and sub-standard inspection."
http://www.unison.org.uk
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