Experts fear more food poisoning if chickens not inspected
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By Andrew Wasley
Millions of chickens could soon be sold across the EU without being individually inspected for contamination or signs of disease after being killed, in a move some experts believe will put consumers at increased risk of food poisoning bugs.
Under current rules, every poultry carcass is individually, visually checked after slaughter and before being released for public consumption. But new proposals being considered by the European Commission would see slaughter plants able to look at just a ‘representative sample’ if they have a history of complying with the standards set by official veterinarians.
EU officials argue that increased microbiological screening of poultry flocks, improved food chain information and ‘risk based’ interventions are now more effective in preventing contaminated or sick birds from reaching consumers than post-mortem inspections of individual birds.
But some meat inspection bodies and consumer groups say the individual examinations are a vita...
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