September 1, 2020

UK poultry council concerned about shortage as poultry plants close after COVID-19 infections

Richard Griffiths, chief executive officer of the British Poultry Council, expressed concerns that the United Kingdom may see a shortage in poultry supply and the emergence of bird welfare failures as a massive number of birds were culled following the closures of processing plants.

Processing plants have recently shut operations after COVID-19 cases among their workforce were reported. This led to the culling of more than 100,000 birds on two farms in the past weeks.

Additionally, the lack of spare capacity in the UK's poultry industry means that many more birds will be slaughtered if more plants are forced to suspend work.

"Outbreaks at meat plants demonstrate that no amount of preparation and vigilance can guarantee complete protection against COVID-19. We have to prioritise the health of people in our community, but we must also safeguard food supply and the welfare of our animals,"  Griffiths told industry sources. "As an efficient sector, there is very little spare capacity should one of those large slaughterhouses be forced to cease operations,"

Griffiths also appealed to the UK's Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to help keep plants operational during COVID-19 outbreaks.

"We need (Defra's) support for a presumption to keep operating in these situations, rather than closing. Where possible, we have to maintain throughput, even if it means having skeleton staff on site," he said.

- Poultry World