Govt bans SA firm’s chicken

ZIMBABWE has suspended chicken imports from a South African Company, Supreme Poultry, to allow investigations into allegations that the firm is exporting recycled products to Zimbabwe.
In a statement yesterday, acting principal director for Livestock and Veterinary Services in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Dr William Shereni said the suspension was a precautionary measure directed at the firm.
Other South African companies are, however, still allowed to bring their chickens to Zimbabwe.The suspension follows reports that Supreme Poultry was washing, repackaging, re-branding and selling expired chickens and products to leading supermarkets in SA and Zimbabwe.
Dr Shereni said the investigations would be undertaken by Zimbabwean veterinary experts.
"The suspension is a precautionary measure to allow for investigations on compliance with Veterinary Health Standards following press releases of malpractice by Supreme Poultry's Botshabelo plant in Bloemfontein, South Africa," said Dr Shereni.
Early this week the Poultry Association of Zimbabwe urged Government to immediately ban poultry imports and enforce strict quality control measures after it emerged the company was recycling chickens.
Some of the expired chickens were allegedly thawed for 24 hours at room temperature while others were treated with chlorine to reduce bacterial load.
Hundreds of tonnes of unsold chickens from Supreme Poultry, the third biggest supplier of the birds in SA, are also allegedly transported back to Supreme Poultry and reprocessed.
Supreme Poultry is among the three major suppliers of chickens to Zimbabwe. Others are Chubby Chicks and Day Break.
An employee of Supreme Poultry who is involved in a labour dispute with the firm revealed the alleged reworking of chickens.
The employee, Mr Johan Mattee, a former production manager at one of Supreme Poultry's plants in SA said the practice had been going on for the over two years he served the company.
"The chickens were then injected with brine, repackaged and sold within a new expiry date," the man said in the News24 report titled "Chicken Horror".
The chickens would then find their way back to shops but would not have been scientifically tested to determine levels of microorganisms.
Supreme Poultry admitted that they were reworking the chickens returned by clients, but maintained that it was permitted by law and within certain guidelines.
According to the report, the firm also said the chickens could be used for specific purposes after reworking, including human and animal consumption or rendering.
The Poultry Association of Zimbabwe claims these imported chickens contain harmful additives that are not fit for human consumption.
They also allege that Zimbabwe risks importing infectious or contagious diseases.
The poultry industry employs about 10 000 people and requires protection from Government to survive.
Government once banned chicken imports but later lifted the ban after the local poultry producers failed to meet demand.
This then prompted Government to licence a number of companies to bridge the deficit through imports.
Companies that have been licenced to import chickens from approved foreign abattoirs include Fresh Pro, Innscor, Zenith Distributors, Seedex Enterprises among others.