Chicken Meat with Anthelmintic Residue Found, Lawmaker Says
SOUTH KOREA - Some chicken meat has been found to carry more anthelmintic residue than the permissible level, an opposition lawmaker said Tuesday, adding to escalating food safety concerns caused by a contaminated egg scandal.According to The Korea Herald, citing data from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Hwang Ju-hong of the People's Party said that of 60 chicken products examined from April to May, two were found to contain the anthelmintic toltrazuril at concentrations of up to six times greater than the permissible level of 0.1 milligram per kilogram.
The products in question were from two factories in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, and Incheon, the lawmaker said. Toltrazuril, used to protect animals from infections, is seen as potentially harmful to humans if ingested excessively.
"The government must promptly address the contaminated egg scandal, and at the same time, has to check all the standards for toxic substances used in the agricultural food and livestock industries," Mr Hwang said in a statement.
The Seoul government found as of Monday that more than 50 farms had produced chicken eggs contaminated with insecticides. It plans to destroy all egg products from the tainted farms.