M&S moves to 100% double-bagging of whole chickens

With the November test report on campylobacter highlighting levels of contamination on whole chickens in UK retail averaging 70% over six months, at least one retailer said it was on-track to have all its birds wrapped in an ovenable roast-in bag to avoid direct consumer contact with the uncooked poultry.

The task of introducing the heat-resistant polyester packaging, with or without a removable outer layer, was widely recognised as a huge challenge but one which retailers and their suppliers have had time to prepare for.

A spokesman for Marks & Spencer (M&S) confirmed: “Already during November we were ‘double-bagging’ 85% of our whole chickens, and conversations were ongoing with other suppliers to ensure we could achieve 100% by the end of [2014].”

Test results

The test results reported by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) for M&S chickens showed 67% were contaminated. The FSA also said that the 70% average across all UK retail rose to 80% during the three months up to the end of July 2014.

M&S stressed that FSA guidance on minimising consumer contact with uncooked meat focused on whole chickens. It has no plans to introduce more roast-in-the-bag options for jointed chicken pieces or other poultry.

Retailers have also made on-pack advice not to wash chicken or open the ovenable wrap, very clear.

The 2 Sisters group, which is M&S’s main source of whole chickens, also supplies Aldi, the Co-op, Morrisons, Sainsbury and Tesco. Its task has been to convert the 6M birds it supplies every year to ovenable packaging.

Invest

Spokesman Nick Murray confirmed that the company had undertaken to invest £10M in combatting campylobacter, but would not disclose how much of that was directed at packaging.

Film converter FFP Packaging Solutions provides the ovenable polyester wrap for M&S, Asda and other retailers. On the M&S pack, chickens are pre-packed and wrapped in an ovenable bag. Then they are overwrapped.