There are already strict controls in place, but these need to be tightened and loopholes need to be closed

Sir John Krebs, Food Standards Agency

A year ago seven people were convicted at Hull Crown Court of conspiracy to defraud by selling more than 1,000 tonnes of pet food meat not fit for human consumption.

Last March, 20 tonnes of unfit poultry was seized in Ripley, near Derby.

The FSA's board will discuss the action plan during an open meeting in Belfast on Wednesday before deciding whether to adopt them.

Code of practice

FSA chairman Sir John Krebs said: "It has become apparent since the recent cause in Rotherham, and subsequent investigation in Amber Valley, that current controls are not adequately protecting consumers from unfit meat entering the human food chain.

"There are already strict controls in place, but these need to be tightened and loopholes need to be closed.

"The board will consider these proposals very carefully to ensure that the consumer is protected as far as possible from this illegal trade," Sir John said.

The seven-point plan proposals include:

• a requirement to stain "high risk" unfit poultry meat, bringing it into line with requirements for red meat
• working with the meat industry to develop a code of practice on the handling and disposal of animal by-products and independent auditing of their activities
• establishing a waste food task force to examine what further measures may be needed to control the annual disposal of 754,000 tonnes of poultry waste.