UK returns salmonella chicken to Brazilian producers
Several containers of chicken meat originated from Brazil were shipped back by the British authorities, since April last year, as the health food inspectors discovered that the meat was contaminated with salmonella.
Tereza Cristina, Brazilian Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, confirmed the UK sent back 16 containers of chicken from Brazil within a 15-month interval. Another container, with about 1,400 tons, was returned for an issue relating to meat temperature, according to Brazilian media reports, informs Food Safety News magazine.
After the rejection of the products, the chicken meat (thousands of tonnes of it) was distributed in the Brazilian market and consumed due to the fact that safety regulation in the South American country is not as tough as the one in the EU.
According to Brazilian media, significant amounts of salmonella chicken meat were produced by JBS and BRF or their subsidiaries.
Data from the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) shows the Netherlands and UK have issued 16 border rejection alerts this year for Salmonella in frozen salted chicken half breasts from Brazil.
The EU-Mercosur deal signed a week ago gives the South American countries a poultry quota of 180,000 tons, mainly to Brazil, as one of the world's largest poultry producers. In the last couple of years, Brazil has lost the rank of the main supplier of poultry in the EU market due to "rotten meat" and bribery scandals regarding its safety food control system. Products from 20 Brazilian poultry plants were banned last year by the EU. Poultry producers from Poland and Spain have already expressed their discontent with the Mercosur deal.
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