Administrators overseeing the closure of a firm suspected of supplying processed meat falsely labeled as British have said they will support an ongoing fraud probe.
Loscoe Chilled Foods, near Heanor, Derbyshire, made 120 staff redundant last month ahead of the appointment of consultancy FRP.
It follows an ongoing investigation by the National Food Crime Unit (NFCU).
Three people were arrested and released pending investigation.
Loscoe Chilled Foods has been contacted for comment.
FRP’s Steven Ross and Allan Kelly were appointed joint administrators of Loscoe Chilled Foods Limited on April 3rd.
Mr Ross said their focus is on “formally winding up operations” of the company “and preparing for an asset sale,” but added that they are “engaging” with NFCU.
“[We] will provide any assistance to support their investigations,” he said.
“In the meantime, we have a team working with affected employees to help with manufacturing [redundancy] Expectations.”
The NFCU previously said pre-packaged meat and deli products sourced from South America and Europe were labeled as British before being delivered to supermarket stalls.
An investigation into alleged food fraud was launched in September 2021 and a Loscoe site visit was conducted in March.
Booths said a “limited number” of cooked meat lines had been withdrawn from sale in 2021, the addition of fresh meat was unaffected and the supermarket was “categorically not under NFCU investigation.”
A spokesman said: “Issues of provenance, traceability, honesty and authenticity are of paramount importance to Booths and the company has worked fully with and supported the work of the NFCU for the last 18 months.”
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