2 Sisters inquiry: Ranjit Singh Boparan denies 'low standards' claim
The boss of the UK's biggest supplier of supermarket chicken has apologised for alleged food safety breaches as MPs accused him of presiding over a 'cost cutting culture' at his Black Country food plant.
Multimillionaire Ranjit Singh Boparan was told his 2 Sisters base in West Bromwich had 'low standards' by MPs, who were grilling him over allegations that his factory breached hygiene rules.
The Bilston-born businessman was summoned to answer the claims in front of the House of Commons' Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA).
Addressing the parliamentary inquiry he apologised to customers and staff who he said had been through 'a hard time' since undercover filming revealed poor hygiene standards, altered food safety records and workers changing food date labelling at the site.
But when pressed by MPs, Mr Boparan insisted it was 'not true' that 2 Sisters had a culture of cutting costs and said he was 'disappointed and upset' when he saw the footage.
He became rattled when Labour MP Paul Flynn asked if 2 Sisters' products should be labelled in supermarkets so people could avoid them due to the firm's 'low standards'.
Mr Boparan said: "We do not have low standards," before inviting committee members to his plant to see it for themselves. "Come announced or unannounced," he said.
"We may well take you up on your offer because we want you to improve your procedures," responded Tory MP Neil Parish, the chair of EFRA.
The claims against 2 Sisters include older birds being dumped in with fresh stock but given the same sell-by date.
It is also alleged that chickens had been thrown back on the production line after falling on the floor, and that records of where birds were slaughtered were altered, making them difficult to trace.
Mr Boparan said that film of a worker picking up chicken off the factory floor was 'absolutely shocking' and pledged to improve staff training and arrange for a mystery worker to check that procedures were being followed.
He admitted that footage of a worker changing the production date on a batch of chicken did 'not look right from a consumer point of view'.
Mr Boparan, who attended the hearing with an entourage of advisors, said: "I reassure you the food that we produce is safe. It is time to build a better business. With that, I have to change and the business will change."
The hearing also saw the Food Standards Agency (FSA) accused of a 'lack of intelligence' over what was going on at the plant.
2 Sisters was founded in 1993 and produces one third of all of the poultry products consumed in the UK. It had revenues of £3.1 billion in 2016.
EFRA will issue a report on its inquiry in six months time.
