Responding to the news today (Monday) that the meat supplier Russell Hume, which is under investigation by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), has gone into administration, UNISON head of local government Heather Wakefield said:
“Job losses are never good news for the individuals concerned, but what happened at Russell Hume made the company’s position untenable.
“This crisis in the UK’s meat supplies, following the discovery at the cutting plant in Birmingham, is clear evidence that meat inspections are not happening frequently enough.
“The hygiene failures came to light on an unannounced visit. The previous inspection had been almost a year before that.
“The FSA must act now and take on extra directly-employed meat inspectors, otherwise there’ll be more incidents of companies recklessly taking risks with the public’s health.
“There must be a permanent inspection presence in every meat cutting plant, to prevent a culture of complacency in food hygiene.”