The BBC’s Panorama programme (22 May) highlighted a major scandal in the chicken processing industry.

Panorama confronted the Food Standards Agency with accusations that water with proteins derived from pork and beef had been added to chicken.

The FSA says that it has been leading efforts in Europe to expose and clamp down on the mislabelling of chicken products, through enforcement action both in the UK and in co-ordination with authorities in Holland where the practice is most common.

The Dutch authorities have taken action against several companies identified in the FSA survey.

The Agency is proposing that if a chicken product contained an ingredient from any other animal this would have to be declared and displayed prominently in the product’s name. So, for example, a chicken product containing hydrolysed protein derived from pork would have to be prominently labelled as 'chicken product containing pork’ or ‘chicken product with pork ingredients'.

The proposal will also tighten the current requirements for labelling of water in chicken. The Agency wants the use of added water to be declared more prominently. Water and hydrolysed animal proteins are added to chicken to bulk up the product, which is then sold on largely to the catering industry. It isn’t illegal to add water or animal proteins to chicken if the product is accurately labelled. However, Agency surveys have uncovered that many chicken products supplied to UK restaurants and takeaways aren’t accurately labelled.

More details of Panorama’s investigation can be found here