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British Man Convicted Of
Selling Diseased Meat
8-29-3

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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
"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.
 
"These condemned birds were then distributed to businesses involved in the human chain."
 
Officials said the illicit trade had been going on from at least 1995 to September, 2001, when the fraud was uncovered.
 
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.
 
The FSA also advised retailers, manufactures, and suppliers to withdraw suspected meat products.
 
An FSA spokesman said that several measures had now been introduced to prevent similar cases.
 
Copyright © 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

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