Episode description

Ten years on from the horse meat crisis, a new scandal has engulfed almost the entire food retail sector.

Huge quantities of foreign pork - sometimes tens of thousands of tonnes a week - has been passed off, fraudulently as British.

One meat processor - who can't be named for legal reasons - has been accused by former employees of 'washing' hams that are visibly rotten, or mixing bad meat with fresh produce.

They even allege paperwork - which would pick up infections like bacteria or E.coli - was being falsified. We talk to the Farmers Weekly journalist who broke the story Abi Kay. And we dip into the 'vagina-scented' ski slopes of Utah to visit the trial of the century - Gwyneth Paltrow v Terry Sanderson.

At the time of publication, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) had not provided us with a comment after we approached them.

You can watch our episodes in full at https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/Videos

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

[Two hours after the episode was published, the FSA provided us with this statement:

“We are continuing our criminal investigation into how a meat supplier allegedly provided products labelled as British when they were in fact sourced from other countries.   

This is a live investigation which means we are looking into all new lines of 

inquiry with the relevant local authorities, including investigating potential food hygiene breaches. This is alongside the work we are doing to investigate food fraud. 

Based on the investigation to date, there is no indication that food is unsafe or there is an increased risk to consumers.  

Criminal investigations take time and need to be done with due process and fairness. The FSA will work tirelessly on behalf of consumers to ensure that this criminal investigation is done to the highest possible standards.  

I do want to emphasise at a time when cost pressures and other challenges mean the risks of food fraud might be increasing, it is vital everyone involved in the food chain works to ensure that food is safe and what it says it is.” 

 Emily Miles, Chief Executive of the Food Standards Agency]