Published 23/07/2014

A Guardian investigation has uncovered a catalogue of hygiene failings in the poultry industry. Industry hygiene standards are designed to prevent the contamination of chicken with the potentially fatal campylobacter bug but the Guardian claims rules are being flouted on farms and where the meat is processed, risking consumer’s health.

Our CEO, Philip Lymbery says: “We congratulate the Guardian on this investigation showing the murky depths to which factory farming of chicken has plunged and the risks this poses to human health. I call on the government to take urgent action to tackle this serious public health risk.

“It should be recognised that producing chickens intensively in stressed conditions is likely to lower their immune system and worsen problems with disease. The decision by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to shelve plans to publish rates of contamination with food poisoning bugs again calls into question a commitment to transparency in the food chain.”