February 1, 2006

Finland: One-fifth of poultry imports contain salmonella

Spot-checks done by the National Food Agency inspections showed that nearly 20 percent of chicken and other poultry imported into Finland last year contained salmonella.

In the inspections, salmonella was found in poultry shipments from Poland, Hungary, France, and Brazil.

In total, random inspections were carried out on 54 poultry consignments. In nine of them, salmonella was discovered, even though certificates written in the countries of origin stated that the shipments were free of the bacteria.

National Food Agency senior inspector Taina Niskanen said the spot-checks concluded that constant monitoring is needed. He said since salmonella is commonplace outside of the Nordic Countries, salmonella will be detected once in a while in shipments.

He added that small quantities of the bacteria may not necessarily show up in initial samples and the bacteria may multiply during shipping.

In Finland, salmonella is seldom detected in meat production facilities. A national programme has been set up to control the spread of the bacteria. Cattle, pigs, poultry and their meat are frequently tested. This is to ensure that the bacteria does not spread and multiply before meat reaches the shops.

As such, fewer than one thousand people are infected with salmonella from meat products sold in Finland each year.

Finland imported 8.1 million kilogrammes of poultry meat last year.