The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is investigating what could be another food scandal in some chicken processing facilities with allegations that chicken bought from Tesco, Sainsbury’s, ASDA and Nando’s could be contaminated.

Whistleblowers have warned the public that hygiene failings in the industry could be affecting leading retailers with allegations, first published in the The Guardian, that chickens fell off the production line and on to the floor at two factories run by 2 Sisters foods. They said chickens were routinely put back into the food chain and that dead birds were passed through dirty water at the start of the food production process.

The claims, which have been denied by the company, come at a time where concerns mount that supermarkets aren’t doing enough to protect consumers from food poisoning and specifically the bug caused by Campylobacter bacteria, which causes 100 deaths per year.

Labour accused the government of presiding over another food scandal. Huw Irranca-Davies, the shadow food and farming minister, said: "These are serious accusations of malpractice in the poultry slaughter and processing sector … If it is found that consumers have been put at risk, we would expect swift and strong action to be taken to restore public confidence, including action against individuals and companies if appropriate."

Three leading supermarkets, Tesco, Sainsburys and Marks & Spencer, launched their own investigations on Wednesday (24 July)

Whistleblower footage shows how hygiene rules and standards were flounted on the factory floor and on farms.

At the last count, campylobacter was present in two-thirds of British fresh chicken sold in the UK.

Although the bug is killed by thorough cooking, around 280,000 people a year in the UK are made ill by it, and it is thought that 100 people die with contamination rates reported to have increased in the past decade.

All of the supermarkets commented with Sainsbury’s saying: “Customers can be confident in the safety of products bought from our stores. We perform regular independent and in-house checks to ensure these standards are met and are investigating these allegations with 2 Sisters.”

Asda referred enquiries to its suppliers whilst both Nando’s and KFC said they were confident that their suppliers operate to high hygiene and welfare standards.

2 Sisters commented: “The allegations about our processing sites are untrue, misleading and inaccurate. Both have British Retail Consortium “A” grade Food Standards certifications, based on a number of announced and unannounced visits.