- LONDON (Reuters) - A British
man working at a pet food processing plant was convicted on Wednesday for
his role in the sale of thousands of tons of diseased meat to supermarkets,
hospitals, and schools, court officials said.
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- Peter Roberts, 68, a director of Denby Poultry Products
in Derbyshire, central England, was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud
at Nottingham Crown Court, a court spokesman said.
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- Another man, Brain Paul Davies, 37, was cleared of the
same charge, and the jury were still considering verdicts against three
other men accused of the same offence.
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- The case centered on allegations that condemned poultry
waste was being recycled by the firm into the human food chain and then
sold to leading supermarkets, including Tesco, Kwik Save and Sainsbury's,
butchers shops, market stalls, and caterers.
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- "This small run down, rat infested factory crudely
processed more than one million chicken and turkey carcasses between January
1, 2000, and March 22, 2001," police and health officials said in
a joint statement.
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- "These condemned birds were then distributed to
businesses involved in the human chain."
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- Officials said the illicit trade had been going on from
at least 1995 to September, 2001, when the fraud was uncovered.
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- A nationwide investigation, which involved 100 police
officers and the Food Standards Agency (FSA), shut down Denby Poultry Products
and revoked the licenses of other firms involved in the scam to sell the
unfit meat.
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- The FSA also advised retailers, manufactures, and suppliers
to withdraw suspected meat products.
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- An FSA spokesman said that several measures had now been
introduced to prevent similar cases.
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