Vice News • 17th March 2022

Superbug-infected chicken is being sold all over the US

Although the USDA deems a certain level of salmonella and campylobacter within poultry acceptable, 12 major U.S. poultry companies — including poultry giants Perdue, Pilgrim’s Pride, Tyson, Foster Farms, and Koch Foods — have exceeded USDA standards for acceptable levels of salmonella multiple times since 2018

Sentient Media • 17th March 2022

Revealed: how diseased chicken spreads dangerous superbugs

Joanne Canda-Alvarez found her nine-year-old son splayed out on his bedroom floor, unable to move and foaming at the mouth. The day before, Jayven had been playing golf with his family. Now he was completely paralysed by the sudden onset of an autoimmune disease that doctors linked to campylobacter.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (en-GB) • 17th March 2022

Superbugs on the shelves: diseased chicken being sold across America

U.S. poultry suppliers sold tens of thousands of products contaminated with potentially deadly bacteria between 2015 and 2020. Over half of those products were contaminated with strains of antibiotic-resistant superbugs—an escalating issue exacerbated by poor hygiene conditions.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism • 3rd October 2016

How superbug-infected pigs get into Britain unchecked

Pigs infected with the superbug MRSA can be freely imported into the UK due to regulatory loopholes, the Bureau can reveal. An investigation has established that there is no mandatory screening for live breeding pigs leaving Denmark – where MRSA is rife throughout the country’s herd – and entering the UK.

The Guardian • 3rd October 2016

Revealed: MRSA variant found in British pork at Asda and Sainsbury's

Meat produced from British pigs has been shown to be infected with a livestock strain of MRSA, the Guardian can reveal, raising concerns that the UK is on the brink of another food scandal. Tests on a sample of 97 UK-produced pork products from supermarkets show that three – sold at Asda and Sainsbury’s – were contaminated with the superbug strain which can cause serious health problems.

Ecostorm reportage • 14th July 2015

Drugged up: how factory farms put MRSA into supermarket pork

A shocking Guardian Films investigation into antibiotic resistance linked to industrial food production

The Guardian • 20th June 2015

MRSA in pork: farming leaders join calls for clampdown on illegal antibiotics use

Britain’s farming leaders are urging the government to clamp down on the illegal use of powerful antibiotics following a Guardian investigation that found evidence that the MRSA superbug – linked to the overuse of such medicines in livestock – had entered the UK’s food chain.

The Guardian • 18th June 2015

MRSA superbug found in supermarket pork raises alarm over farming risks

Pork sold by several leading British supermarkets has been found to be contaminated with a strain of the superbug MRSA that is linked to the overuse of powerful antibiotics on factory farms.

The Guardian • 18th June 2015

What is the superbug LA-MRSA CC398 and why is it spreading on farms?

MRSA is best known in the UK for causing hospital-acquired infections – and many deaths. There has been little human to human transmission of the superbug in the community, but it is particularly dangerous in hospitals because it can colonise wounds easily, especially where patients’ immunity is low.

The Guardian • 23rd July 2014

Revealed: the dirty secret of the UK’s poultry industry

Three of the UK’s leading supermarkets have launched emergency investigations into their chicken supplies after a Guardian investigation uncovered a catalogue of alleged hygiene failings in the poultry industry.

The Guardian • 23rd July 2014

Sick chicken: what you need to know and what the government won't tell you – video

A Guardian undercover investigation exposes conditions inside the chicken factories that supply some of the biggest supermarket and fast-food chains in the business.

The Guardian • 24th July 2014

Food Standards Agency investigates poultry factories

The Food Standards Agency is investigating standards in some chicken-processing factories, after a Guardian investigation uncovered a catalogue of hygiene failings in the industry. The agency confirmed it was investigating the allegations made by whistleblowers to the Guardian about hygiene standards in specific factories relating to the spread of campylobacter bacteria - the most common form of food poisoning in the UK.

The Guardian • 25th July 2014

Chicken factories inspected by FSA as Tesco reveals surprise spot check

The chicken factories at the centre of revelations over food poisoning contamination were checked by Food Standards Agency inspectors on Friday, as sources reported that Tesco auditors had found failings during a surprise inspection at an abattoir in Wales.

HuffPost UK • 4th August 2014

The Hidden Cost of Cheap Poultry

Supermarket chicken is making us sick, as the recent scandal over the spread of the potentially-deadly campylobacter bug revealed. But cheap poultry is also linked to poor conditions for some (mainly migrant) workers toiling in Britain's vast slaughterhouses and processing factories. Channel 4's latest Dispatches programme, Supermarkets: the real price of cheap food, highlights the plight of some Portuguese agency workers employed at a poultry processing plant in Suffolk.

The Guardian • 12th August 2014

UK food watchdog admits chicken factory breached hygiene laws

Roy Stevenson was a senior quality controller for more than a decade at one of the UK's largest poultry abattoirs, in Scunthorpe, until the end of 2012 when he was made redundant. Owned by the 2 Sisters group, the factory still supplies many leading supermarkets and fast-food chains.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism • 23rd February 2018

Fear of national meat scandal - thousands of food safety breaches revealed

More than half of the meat processing and cold storage facilities audited in England, Wales and Northern Ireland had major non-compliances with hygiene or food safety regulations in the last three years.

The Guardian • 23rd February 2018

Fear of meat scandal as data shows hygiene breaches at over half UK plants

The scale of food safety and hygiene problems in meat plants around much of the UK is revealed by new analysis showing more than half of all audited plants have had at least one “major” breach in the last three years.

The Guardian • 21st February 2018

'Dirty meat': shocking hygiene failings discovered in US pig and chicken plants

Shocking hygiene failings have been discovered in some of the US’s biggest meat plants, as a new analysis reveals that as many as 15% (one in seven) of the US population suffers from foodborne illnesses annually.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism • 21st February 2018

Dirty US meat could flood into UK after a Brexit trade deal

Thousands of shocking hygiene violations in US meat production have been revealed in unpublished US documents, a joint investigation by the Bureau and the Guardian has found.

The Guardian • 21st February 2018

The controversial law that allows salmonella into the human food chain

US campaigners are calling once again for the closure of a legal loophole that allows meat with salmonella to be sold in the human supply chain.

The Guardian • 21st February 2018

How US plans to speed up pig slaughter times could endanger food safety

Speeding up production lines at US pig processing plants could lead to unsafe meat getting into the human food chain as a new analysis shows higher levels of error in plants where they are experimenting with faster lines.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism • 19th September 2017

Blowing the whistle on the meat industry

The whistleblower is worried about lighter-touch regulation, frequent breaches in standards as well as individual cases of harassment against inspectors.

ITV News • 19th September 2017

The 'public health risk' in the meat industry

A former meat inspector has told ITV News that poor hygiene and ineffective regulations have left consumers at risk, as part of a joint investigation with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism which shows more than a quarter of abattoirs failed to meet a key hygiene standard. The revelations have increased concerns that regulation of the UK's meat sector is failing.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism • 5th May 2017

Bullying, harassment and physical assault: Abuse faced by inspectors inside UK slaughterhouses

Vets and meat hygiene inspectors working in abattoirs face regular abuse, bullying and harassment, an investigation has found, hampering food safety and animal welfare checks.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism • 7th February 2016

Banned in America, soaring use in Britain: The poultry farm drugs that put human lives at risk

Antibiotics banned in US chicken farms a decade ago over links to the spread of potentially deadly bacteria in humans have been used in significantly increased quantities by Britain’s poultry industry, an investigation reveals today. Industry figures obtained by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism show that UK poultry producers upped their use of a class of antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones by 59% in the latest 12-month reporting period...

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism • 7th February 2016

Critically important to human health: What are fluoroquinolones?

Fluoroquinolone antibiotics were developed in the 1970s and first used in human medicine in the 1980s. The drugs are used for treating, amongst other conditions, human food poisoning illnesses such as campylobacter, salmonella and Ecoli. Because of their important role in treating severe cases of such infections, the World Health Organization (WHO) has classified fluoroquinolones as being “critically important” to human healthcare, and said that reducing the use of the substances on livestock...

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism • 17th February 2016

Antibiotic resistant campylobacter: Poultry industry’s killer legacy

Campylobacter has plagued the poultry industry for years, with some studies revealing that as much as two-thirds of fresh retail chicken sold is contaminated with the bug.

inews.co.uk • 22nd November 2022

Britons at risk as rivers 'awash' with antibiotic-resistant superbugs

British rivers are “awash” with antibiotic-resistant superbugs and drug residues

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (en-GB) • 22nd November 2022

Swimming in superbugs: MRSA and E coli found in British rivers

UK rivers near livestock farms are awash with superbugs and antibiotic residues, including in the idyllic River Wye, research by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has found.

the Guardian • 21st November 2022

McDonald’s and Walmart beef suppliers criticised for ‘reckless’ antibiotics use

Suppliers of beef to McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Walmart are sourcing meat from US farms that use antibiotics linked to the spread of dangerous superbugs, an investigation has found.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (en-GB) • 21st November 2022

McDonald’s and Walmart beef suppliers risk public health with ‘reckless’ antibiotics use

Antibiotic resistance is one of the gravest global public health threats. According to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, it is responsible for more than 35,000 deaths in the US each year, and 1.3 million globally.

The Guardian • 5th July 2022

Potentially deadly superbug found in British supermarket pork

British supermarket pork has been infected with a potentially fatal superbug. The findings highlight the risks to consumers from overuse of antibiotics on some farms.

The Guardian • 5th July 2022

Dangerous strain of salmonella becoming more common in UK meat

A dangerous strain of salmonella is becoming more common in meat in the UK, unpublished government records show.

the Guardian • 17th June 2021

UK pig farms doubled their use of class of antibiotics vital for humans

UK pig farms’ increasing use of a class of antibiotics critically important for human health has prompted concerns about farming practices and efforts to reduce reliance on the drugs.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism • 17th June 2021

Superbug fears as supermarket pig farms escalate use of antibiotics

The use of certain antibiotics deemed critical to human health has surged on British pig farms supplying major supermarkets

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism • 19th September 2018

Critical antibiotics still used on US farm animals despite superbug crisis

Tests on thousands of meat samples carried out by the US Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) show that farm animals are still being dosed with powerful antibiotics classified as “critically important” to human health.

The Guardian • 19th June 2018

How big pharma is muddying the waters on farm animal antibiotics

Slick industry PR campaigns about antibiotics in food production are muddying the water around a serious public health risk, an investigation by the Guardian has found.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism • 18th June 2018

The story behind the mom, the chicken and the superbug threat

An investigation reveals the "clunky" advertising campaigns that are downplaying consumer concerns over giving antibiotics to farm animals

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism • 24th February 2017

Use of ‘last hope’ antibiotic soaring in English hospitals

Use of the ‘last hope’ antibiotic colistin - one of the few options left that can save lives when infections have become resistant to all other drugs - has soared in English hospitals, with experts blaming a rise in superbugs. Prescriptions of colistin, which doctors use when infections stop responding to all other antibiotics, rose by 40% between 2014 and 2015, show figures obtained by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism • 15th May 2016

Exclusive: Minister floats tax on antibiotics to tackle drug resistance crisis

The danger to human health from the world’s antibiotic resistance crisis is “a much more troubling train wreck” than even the great financial crash of 2008, former Goldman Sachs chief and now UK minister Lord Jim O’Neill has warned. Speaking exclusively to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Lord O’Neill, who was handpicked by David Cameron to examine the issue for the government in 2014, said there was an urgent need for industry leaders and consumers to “change mindsets”.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism • 11th April 2016

Resistance to key antibiotic used in dangerous food poisoning cases now at record levels

Resistance to a key antibiotic used in the treatment of serious food poisoning cases has reached its highest level for a decade, new figures obtained by the Bureau suggest. Previously unpublished data collated by Public Health England shows that almost one in two of all human campylobacter cases tested in England for resistance to ciprofloxacin – one of several drugs doctors turn to when victims of the food poisoning bug develop complications – returned positive results.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism • 11th April 2016

Get the data: Rising sales of critically important antibiotics

Not all antibiotics are equal. According to the World Health Organization, some classes of antibiotic are so medically important they’ve labelled them “critically important antibiotics”. If an antibiotic is critically important it means it’s the only way, or one of few alternatives, of treating a serious infectious disease in humans. On top of that, it’s also an antibiotic that treats either diseases humans can catch from non-human sources (animals, water, food or the environment).

The Guardian • 10th April 2016

Investors urge fast food and pub chains to act to reduce farm antibiotics

A group of powerful City investors who together control more than $1tn in assets have written to leading fast food, pub and restaurant chains urging them to take immediate action to reduce antibiotic use in their meat and poultry supply chains. The financiers, including Aviva Investors, Strathclyde Pension Fund and Coller Capital, are particularly concerned about the use of antibiotics classified as “critically important” to human health and the routine use of drugs on factory farms to prevent disease.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism • 17th February 2016

Antimicrobial resistance: what’s the issue, and why is it so important?

The Bureau has launched a new investigation into drug resistance in the UK, with the first story, Banned in America, soaring use in Britain: The poultry farm drugs that put human lives at risk, published today in the Independent. What is the problem?