January 3, 2011

Zimbabwe imposes poultry ban on a South African abattoir

Zimbabwe has temporarily banned poultry products from a South African abattoir due to health concerns after reports the company was allegedly reprocessing rotten chickens and exporting them, a Zimbabwe official said.

South Africa's Supreme Poultry has hit the headlines during the past month amid allegations that it was reprocessing unsold chickens and putting them back on sale with new expiry dates.

Agriculture Minister Joseph Made said the Zimbabwean government was suspending imports from Supreme Poultry as a precautionary measure to allow the Department of Livestock and Veterinary Services to investigate compliance with veterinary health standards.

"We have banned the importation of poultry in order for us to investigate whether the producers are complying with the veterinary health standards in the country," said Made.

Health experts say any frozen food, including meat, fish and chicken, should never be refrozen because this gives harmful micro-organisms a chance to multiply and can cause food poisoning.