An inspection carried out at a poultry processing plant in Scotland in the wake of serious allegations of unsanitary conduct in a site operated by the 2 Sisters Food Group has unearthed fresh cause for concern.

The factory in Coupar Angus, a town in Perth and Kinross, was given a ‘red’ warning when visited by Tesco auditors in the immediate aftermath of the Bromwich plant scandal which broke at the end of September.

Leaked documents seen by the British newspaper The Guardian show a number of failings which caused inspectors to give the Scottish site their worst possible rating. only 1 per cent of Tesco’s suppliers are given a red warning.

The newspaper said that the failings included:

Mixing organic and non-organic chickens

Instances of double or no labelling

A computer system allowing workers to alter use-by dates

Problems in the recording system for chicken earmarked for disposal resulting in workers being unable to demonstrate which products have been sent to waste

Instances of chicken becoming untraceable once leaving the plant

A Tesco spokesman said: “Nothing is more important to Tesco than the safety of the food we sell. We ensure the food our supplier partners produce is of the highest standard with routine, detailed and rigorous audits across our supply chain.

“When we became aware of the issues at 2 Sisters’ West Bromwich site, we immediately conducted an additional 46 visits and inspections across other 2 Sisters poultry sites. None of the specific food safety risks highlighted at West Bromwich were replicated at any other site. Tesco’s inspections did not identify regulatory breaches at any of 2 Sisters sites.

“Coupar Angus is an important source of chicken for the whole retail industry. All retailers conduct regular inspections as a safeguard against potential food safety issues. Our inspection highlighted a number of inadequate processes at this site, including labelling, segregation, traceability and recording. We insisted these were addressed immediately to prevent any food safety issues.

“We have shared our findings with the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland and welcome their investigations. We continue to monitor practices closely across 2 Sisters poultry sites.”

In response to the leaked report, 2 Sisters Food Group accused the Guardian of using old news and attempting to damage its reputation.

A spokesman said: “We have been made aware of several allegations made by The Guardian/ITV in relation to an audit report on our Coupar Angus site which was commissioned by Tesco.

“We view these allegations extremely seriously.

“However, ITV and The Guardian are referring to standard inspection audits and appear to be trying to damage the reputation of our factories and potentially the livelihoods of 23,000 colleagues by misrepresenting them. There is and never was any risk to food safety at Coupar Angus. This is using old news to highlight issues which were resolved with our customer two months ago.”

At the end of September, 2 Sisters’ Bromwich poultry plant made headlines after an undercover investigation conducted by The Guardian and ITN produced video evidence of unsanitary practices.

These included picking up dropped chicken from the floor and putting it back in the production line and changing the kill date on chickens.

The allegations resulted in work being suspended at the Midlands site and 2 Sisters Food Group’s CEO Ranjit Singh Boparan being called before a UK Government committee.