A California poultry processor and supplier to major US supermarkets and food distributors will pay nearly $3.8m (£3.01m) in back wages, damages, and penalties after a Department of Labor finding that it endangered young workers.

Federal investigators found The Exclusive Poultry and several linked firms established by owner Tony Bran employed children, some as young as 14, to debone poultry using sharp knives and operate power-driven lifts to move pallets.