Chicken supplier 2 Sisters suspends operations

One of the UK's largest supermarket chicken suppliers has suspended operations after an investigation allegedly exposed food safety breaches.

The 2 Sisters Food Group said staff at its site in the West Midlands will need to be "appropriately retrained" before it starts resupplying customers.

It comes after allegations that workers had changed slaughter dates to extend the shelf life of meat.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has also been investigating the claims.

The Guardian and ITV News claimed an undercover reporter witnessed workers changing the "kill dates" on chickens.

They also allegedly saw meat of different ages being mixed together and codes on crates of meat altered.

In a statement, the company said an internal investigation had shown "some isolated instances of non-compliance" at its plant in West Bromwich.

"We have therefore decided to temporarily suspend operations at the site to allow us the time to retrain all colleagues, including management, in all food safety and quality management systems."

All staff will remain on full pay and take part in training on site, it added.

"We will only recommence supply once we are satisfied that our colleagues have been appropriately retrained."

Marks & Spencer, Aldi, Lidl and The Co-op have stopped taking chickens from the site while investigations take place.

The company also supplies Tesco and Sainsbury's, which are looking into the allegations.

2 Sisters said the FSA had visited the site every day since the allegations came to light and had "not identified any breaches".

It went on: "We continue to work closely with the FSA and our customers throughout this period."