Operation Aberdeen

Abstract

In 2000, UK authorities discovered a large-scale food fraud case involving unfit poultry meat being sold back into the food supply chain. The investigation took 3 years to complete and was led by Amber Valley Borough Council; Environmental Health (EH); Trading Standards Office (TSO); Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF); Meat Hygiene Services (MHS), Food Standards Agency (FSA); and Derbyshire Constabulary.The investigation, named “Operation Aberdeen,” began on 7th December 2000 following an anonymous tip-off to Derbyshire Environmental Health. The complainant stated that a local pet food producer was fraudulently “dressing up” unfit poultry meat, which was being sold through a number of intermediaries, back into the food supply chain. A further 31 contacts via the informant were made, and following a multiagency meeting, the pet food manufacturer was raided by the authorities on 22nd March 2001. This resulted in the seizure of 30 tons of unfit poultry meat and convictions of six out of the ten defendants.The unfit poultry meat (chicken and turkey) had been sold to schools, hospitals, restaurants, wholesalers, and retailers throughout England from 1997 to 2001.Operation Aberdeen highlighted both the amount of profit available to food fraud criminal activities and ease at which unfit food can enter the food supply chain.