23 January 2008
Poultry code too weak to tackle campy epidemic
The New Zealand Food Safety Authority has missed a vital chance to stem this country's campylobacter-related epidemic,
the Green Party says.
The new Code of Practice for processing of poultry, while a small step in the right direction, fails to include some
very simple measures to stem the tide of campylobacter contamination of chicken meat being sold to New Zealanders, Safe
Food Spokesperson Sue Kedgley says.
"Campylobacter is a nasty food-borne illness that is estimated to affect around 100,000 New Zealanders each year, and
sees about 650 people hospitalised. Estimates are that around 80 percent of cases stem from contaminated chicken.
The Authority's own studies show that campylobacter cross-contamination is occurring at virtually all stages of poultry
processing and sale, yet the simple steps that can be taken to prevent this have barely been addressed in the new Code
of Practice.
"A higher emphasis should be placed on more hygienic methods of transportation to avoid cross-contamination between live
birds. Campylobacter lives in the gut of the chicken and transporting them in cages stacked on top of each other will
inevitably result in the droppings from birds higher up the stack contaminating those below them."
Studies show that automated processing systems pose a far higher risk of contamination than manual systems, however, the
code has asked for little modification of these processes.
The spray caused by the rubber fingers of the automatic defeatherer is a major source of contamination from one bird to
the next, as is the automatic evisceration machine. This machine pulls the gut from the bird, however, if not set to the
correct size can tear the gut spilling the contents over the chicken and contaminating the machine.
"Finally, in the retail environment leaky packing allows contamination of other grocery items. If leak-proof packaging
was mandatory, New Zealanders could be sure their entire trolley hadn't got a dose of campylobacter from a pack of fresh
chicken meat.
"I can not understand why the NZFSA would allow these processes to continue in this way. It is time for the Authority to
take a hard line instead of the softly, softly approach it has followed so far. The health of many New Zealanders is at
stake," Ms Kedgley says.
ENDS