November 15, 2006

Australian poultry that survived overdose safe for consumption

Health authorities in Queensland, Australia, said that chickens in farms near Brisbane which survived an overdose of Nicarbazin are safe for consumption.

Nicarbazin is added to feed to control parasites

The overdose killed around 50,000 poultry at farms near Brisbane last week while 150,000 chickens survived.

Queensland acting chief health officer Linda Selvey said tests have revealed safe levels of the substance in the surviving chickens.

The chemical gets excreted fairly rapidly, so the chickens which had been released for sale a week after they had been exposed to the overdoes were free of most of the chemicals, Selvey said.