Meat sector hits back at claims of poor practice

Meat hygiene inspectors have defended their record of protecting the general public from contaminated meat, in response to media criticism of abattoir standards.

The allegations were made in an investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and published in the Observer newspaper last weekend.

It claimed that, based on an analysis of government audits of 323 abattoirs in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, one in four had experienced “major hygiene failings” leading to contamination of the meat.

See also: Producers urged to meet cleanliness guidelines

The report cites instances of carcasses coming into contact with the factory floor, cutting equipment not being sterilised adequately and meat being splashed with water potentially containing faecal matter.

This, it suggests, could expose consumers to bacteria such as E coli, salmonella or campylobacter, which in turn could cause food poisoning.

Incomplete picture

But the Food Standards Agency says the report does not give the complete picture on the condition of meat entering the food chain.

“Our meat hygiene inspectors and official veterinarians inspect every red meat and poultry carcass for visible contamination, and 99.57% of them pass the test,” it said.

“The remaining 0.43% is rejected and passed back to the food business, and they have to rectify the problem. If it doesn’t pass, then it does not get a health mark.”

The BIJ report notes that “rectify” means cutting off parts of the carcass that are visibly contaminated. It suggests this does not go far enough as bacterial contamination may have gone further up the carcass.

But meat processors’ body Aims (Association of Independent Meat Suppliers) has also criticised the report, saying it is “not surprised by the assertions in the obviously union-inspired, anti-meat article in the Observer”.

“Audit findings are notoriously difficult to draw conclusions from without knowing the details of each and every factory audited,” said chief executive Norman Bagley.

“The audit system as it stands is a general assessment of multiple layers of legislation that this persistently over-regulated sector is subjected to. It is not based on science, nor microbiological evidence.”