UK frozen food retailer Iceland has taken thousands of packets of chicken nuggets out of its freezer chests after secret filming at a supplier’s plant revealed poor hygiene.
Film recorded at a Perkins Frozen Foods plant showed that staff were not obliged to wash their hands, the Daily Mail reported. In footage broadcast on national television in ITV’s Tonight programme, one worker was filmed throwing nuggets that fell on the floor back on the production line.
Iceland has withdrawn Perkins’ Premier Nuggets pending an investigation, but it is believed the product is still in circulation through other retailers and caterers.
In a related story, the Tonight programme that broadcast the footage also had the nuggets tested and found the meat content was not 41% as stated, but just 35.1%.
Ian Blackburn, chief executive of Perkins, disputed the meat content claim and said the firm had rigorous hygiene standards, the Mail reported.
To read the just-food.com editorial on meat content labelling practices, click here.
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