Cutting plant in Bristol ordered to pay more than £60,000 for hygiene failings

A meat cutting plant and cold store in Bristol has been prosecuted for six breaches of hygiene regulations which took place in 2019.

At a hearing on 2 November 2020, Bristol Magistrates’ Court ordered the cutting plant business to pay a £53,000 fine, plus costs of £9,425 and a £181 victim surcharge.

The company were found to have committed six offences which included a failure to apply ID marks to poultry carcasses, the re-use of cardboard boxes and processing over-temperature meat.

During an unannounced inspection on 24 April 2019, FSA officials found poultry meat in bags which were due to be transported from the plant without ID marks, some of which was in reused cardboard boxes. A separate visit on 3 October 2019 also detected meat in the cutting plant above the legal minimum temperature.

The company had received previous warnings in January 2019 for failing to apply health marks and re-using carboard boxes as well as a further warning in August 2019 for temperature breaches. The business was served Remedial Action Notices, which required the business to take immediate action to comply with regulations, as a further warning.

Simon Tunnicliffe, FSA Head of Field Operations, said:

“We take all breaches of hygiene regulations seriously. We always aim to work with a business to help them resolve issues first where possible. However, where a business fails to uphold acceptable food hygiene standards, we will take action and look to prosecute to protect public health."