By Sameer Naik
The SA Poultry Association is on high alert after it was revealed that Britain has been selling chicken secretly injected with beef and pork waste to its cafes and restaurants.
Britain's Food Standards Agency (FSA) revealed this week that food manufacturers are producing bulking agents out of porcine and bovine gristle and bones that help inflate chicken breasts so that they fetch a higher price.
Thousands of restaurateurs and cafe owners in Britain were conned into buying chicken containing the non-chicken material, while diners were unwittingly consuming traces of other animals.
Kevin Lovell, CEO of SA Poultry, says the association had not yet received any complaints about local products being injected with anything other than hydrolysed chicken proteins.
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"These hydrolysed proteins are specialised food ingredients subject to the normal stringent food safety rules applicable in South Africa and elsewhere," said Lovell.
Chicken which is destined for freezing is routinely injected with various tenderising solutions to combat the toughening that occurs during the freezing process.
"Eighty percent of South Africa's chicken is frozen, so it is very important that manufacturers give consumers the best possible taste and texture eating experience," said Lovell.
The problem which occur-red in Britain was an issue of sensitivity as the 2 million Muslims, Jews, and Hindus that live in the country were enraged and distressed to discover what they had been consuming.
The poultry association has assured South Africans that they will be approaching the ingredient suppliers to verify that what seems like a common practice in the UK does not occur here.
Lovell has said that they will approach the various halaal agencies in South Africa to ensure that they have been alerted to the British incident.
"A lot of chicken in South Africa is slaughtered halaal but very little is slaughtered as kosher, so the various halaal bodies will be our main contact point.
"Quite sophisticated testing is required to check on the finished products to detect the use of non-chicken protein in the solutions," said Lovell.
The FSA had a similar case in 2001 when they found traces of beef and pork in Dutch chicken.
New scientific techniques have now been put into place to ensure more effective investigations.
- This article was originally published on page 9 of The Star on June 13, 2009
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