Australian Poultry Gets Clean Bill of Health

The annual survey conducted by the Federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) tests for 40 different contaminants each of which were completely undetected in all samples.

VFF Chicken Meat Group president, Mike Shaw, says the findings are not surprising to chicken growers considering the use of hormones has been banned in Australian poultry production since the 1960s and antibiotics are used sparingly and only for specific animal health purposes.

"The Australian broiler industry has lead the way, not just in food safety, but in biosecurity, animal welfare and environmental management," Mr Shaw says.

"These findings highlight the contrast between the food safety standards in Australian poultry production and the standards in many overseas production systems. Any move to allow imported chicken meat into Australia is likely to compromise food safety standards.

"Many countries interested in importing to Australia use a range of drugs and health products as well as pesticides that we simply do not use here.

"Consumers are the primary benefactors of the results of this survey. They can feel 100% confident when consuming Australian chicken" Mr Shaw concluded.  

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