Food tycoon Ranjit Boparan's wrist slapped over sending unsolicited gifts to MPs 

'Chicken King' Ranjit Boparan appearing before the House of Commons environment, food and rural affairs committee following the food safety scandal at 2Sisters 
'Chicken King' Ranjit Boparan appearing before the House of Commons environment, food and rural affairs committee following the food safety scandal at 2Sisters 

Ranjit Boparan, the so-called 'Chicken King', has had his wrist slapped after being accused of sending unsolicited gifts to the MPs investigating his 2Sisters food company's recent poultry safety scandal.

Neil Parish, chairman of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, has written to Mr Boparan to say that the gifts were an "inappropriate gesture on your part and an unwarranted attempt to impugn the committee's impartiality". 

Paul Flynn, Labour MP for Newport West, told The Daily Telegraph that only half of the MPs on the committee had received food hampers, that he claimed were worth around £100, filled with Viennese biscuits  and chocolate cookies made by Mr Boparan's Fox Biscuits. 

However, a spokesman for 2Sisters said: "It was approximately eight packets of Fox’s and Own Brand Biscuits which we send every year to a number of external stakeholders as a goodwill gesture at Christmas. We have responded formally to Mr Parish explaining this."

Mr Flynn said: "The gifts caused a great deal of consternation as it suggested that the MPs who did receive the biscuits could be bought by biscuits. Those that didn't receive them could be judged to be beyond corruption," Mr Flynn said. "Biscuits will never buy us."

The MP added that "they didn't have a nibble" of the biscuits and that no chicken had been included as part of the food hampers sent by Mr Boparan. "Who would want to eat that stuff anyway," he added.

Mr Parish said that all gifts had been donated to charity or returned to 2Sisters. "I would be grateful if you would respect the integrity and independence of the committee and avoid similar gestures in future," the chairman wrote to Mr Boparan. 

The committee grilled Mr Boparan in October about safety standard breaches at 2Sisters Food Group following reports of poor standards at the company's site in West Bromich.

Undercover footage by the Guardian and ITV showed workers at the company retrieving chicken that had been dropped on the floor and returning it to the production line as well as older chicken being mixed with fresher birds.

Mr Boparan apologised for the scandal and pledged to improve standards at the factory, increase training for his workforce and install cameras to monitor staff. 

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