November 5, 2022

Ghana concerned over preserved frozen chicken imported into the country

Records from the Association of Ghana Industries-Agriculture Sector has found that frozen chicken and other meat products imported into the country are preserved for as long as three years before reaching markets in Africa such as Ghana, raising concerns over the safety of the meat, GhanaWeb reported.

Fatima Alimohamed, vice chair of the AGI-Agriculture Sector, said this situation is critical and that Ghana must act fast to stop the escalating importation of meat and poultry items onto the local market that are possibly cancer-infested.

The association's trade statistics also reveals a dramatic increase in monthly imports of frozen chicken and other products, from 2.8 million kg in the fourth quarter of 2021 to 3.4 million kg.

Alimohamed said the imported chicken and imported meat were slaughtered years ago, not killed last month and transported here the month after. She said most have been injected for preservation, and there is a great possibility that this will have terrible health concerns such as cancer, which is on the rise in Ghana.

She emphasised the requirement for both the public and commercial sectors to start localising food, particularly in the poultry and meat subsector, as well as other necessary food items such as milk products, which have a high import cost.

Data from the Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers (GNAPF) showed that the nation imported more than 600,000 tonnes of frozen chicken in 2021. The data, which comes from the European Union (EU), showed that the country purchased chicken from the EU last year worth about US$600 million.

The local poultry industry now only accounts for 2% of the chicken market, which is dominated by imports with a 98% share, the GNAPF said.

-      GhanaWeb