The Chinese agriculture authority has recently closed poultry farms in East China, which were found to be administering excessive amounts of antibiotics into their chickens to help their survival in crowded barns.

In other food safety news, researchers from the University of Bologna, Italy have found that 100 per cent carbon dioxide packaging has the potential for the maintenance of egg quality during transport, retail and domestic storage.

However, research found that temperature played a more important role in influencing the bacterial survival. In particular, the lowest microbial loads were registered at 4°C on E.coli and spoilage bacteria, whereas 37°C was the best storage temperature to avoid the psychrotropic microorganism L. monocytogenes development, regardless of the gas used.

Researchers from the Department of Food Hygiene and Food Technology at the University of León, Spain, have also discovered that decontamination treatments can increase the prevalence of resistance to antibiotics of E.coli naturally present on poultry.

In the US, the 27 December International Egg and Poultry review stated that turkey meat imports and exports are maintaining growth. Exports of turkey meat were 17 per cent higher in the 2012 January - October period than the same period in 2011.

The consumption of turkey is also continuing to grow in the country, with research from Mintel revealing that turkey, duck and other specialty birds, grew a considerable 6.5 per cent from 2011 to 2012.

In disease news, Newcastle disease is continuing to spread in Israel, with a turkey flock of 24,000 affected in Hadarom. The disease has also been reported in wild birds in the Czech Republic, sparking bird movement control within the country to prevent the spread.

New cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) have also been reported in poultry in central Nepal.