Poultry bosses have branded Which? magazine as a grossly irresponsible scaremonger for its recent allegations on the dating of chicken.
The consumer magazine, alleged that staff at chicken processing plants were deliberately misleading consumers by repackaging and altering the use-by date on raw chicken.
The allegations, stemming from an unnamed Meat Hygiene Service inspector, were that at least one plant was carrying out the practice, while the trade union Unison alleged it was common practice.
Which? said its source claimed some chicken sold as fresh could be 20 days old.
One poultry industry source
said: “You wouldn’t even want to pick up chicken that was 20 days old. It would probably be able to walk to the bin by itself. This is scaremongering.”
Peter Bradnock, chief executive of the British Poultry Council, said: “They have just reported unsubstantiated comments from one meat inspector, who, if he actually has evidence this is the case, has the power to stop it himself.
“It’s grossly irresponsible on behalf of Which? and it just undermines consumers’ faith in the date system. From the point of view of the consumer, it doesn’t offer useful information and doesn’t do anything for the credibility of Which?.”
He said the idea of processors constantly altering the dates was nonsense as the sheer cost of repackaging the product several times made it pointless and would damage the appearance of the product.
The retail sector also denied the allegations. A spokeswoman for Sainsbury said: “All use-by dates applied to our own brand products are set by experts to ensure the product is both safe and of the best quality.
“We routinely check the quality and safety of our products and any attempt to abuse the use-by date would be identified immediately.”
Ed Bedington
The consumer magazine, alleged that staff at chicken processing plants were deliberately misleading consumers by repackaging and altering the use-by date on raw chicken.
The allegations, stemming from an unnamed Meat Hygiene Service inspector, were that at least one plant was carrying out the practice, while the trade union Unison alleged it was common practice.
Which? said its source claimed some chicken sold as fresh could be 20 days old.
One poultry industry source
said: “You wouldn’t even want to pick up chicken that was 20 days old. It would probably be able to walk to the bin by itself. This is scaremongering.”
Peter Bradnock, chief executive of the British Poultry Council, said: “They have just reported unsubstantiated comments from one meat inspector, who, if he actually has evidence this is the case, has the power to stop it himself.
“It’s grossly irresponsible on behalf of Which? and it just undermines consumers’ faith in the date system. From the point of view of the consumer, it doesn’t offer useful information and doesn’t do anything for the credibility of Which?.”
He said the idea of processors constantly altering the dates was nonsense as the sheer cost of repackaging the product several times made it pointless and would damage the appearance of the product.
The retail sector also denied the allegations. A spokeswoman for Sainsbury said: “All use-by dates applied to our own brand products are set by experts to ensure the product is both safe and of the best quality.
“We routinely check the quality and safety of our products and any attempt to abuse the use-by date would be identified immediately.”
Ed Bedington
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