2 SISTERS FOOD GROUP

That this House recalls concerns previously raised by the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union about the 2 Sisters Food Group's business model, including attacks on jobs, pay and conditions of workers on sites acquired in takeover and merger deals; notes with concern the undercover evidence of The Guardian/ITV from the West Bromwich chicken processing plant owned by 2 Sisters Food Group, involving tampering with hygiene and food safety records and the deliberate falsification of dates of slaughter; understands that these practices could well have resulted in contamination of the human food chain; further notes reports that workers are known to have been complaining about this practice since as early at least as 2009; welcomes the Food Standards Agency's decision to investigate a total of 12 processing sites operated by the company; is concerned at the proposed merger between two of the largest and most well-known UK biscuit manufacturers — the 2 Sisters owned Fox's Biscuits and Burton's Biscuits; believes the proposed merger would threaten jobs, conditions and product standards; and therefore calls on the Competition and Markets Authority to undertake an investigation into whether the parent company of Fox's Biscuits is a fit and proper party to such a proposed merger.