Investigation of egg farm salmonella incident could take weeks

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The investigation into the distribution of salmonella found in the poultry feed produced by Raisio Feed Ltd is likely to take weeks. According to preliminary estimates, at least 26 poultry farms have received contaminated feed, but through agricultural trading further small farms may also have received the faulty product.
      In February, layer chickens on three egg-producing farms in Western Finland were discovered to be carrying salmonella. Poultry feed from Raisio Feed Ltd was soon defined as the source of the infection.
      In cooperation with Raisio Feed Ltd, the Finnish Food Safety Authority EVIRA will go through the list of the possibly contaminated delivered consignments, after which inspectors will collect stool specimens of chicken from the farms in question.
      As a precautionary measure, the delivered feed consignments will be collected and replaced with clean products. The feed production line will also be disinfected.
      “This week will definitely be spent collecting samples. After that the analysis of each sample will take around four days at the EVIRA lab. The entire project will take weeks”, estimates head of unit Kaija Varimo from EVIRA.
     
If salmonella is found from any of the farms, their chicken will be disposed of and the eggs will be prevented from entering the market.
      According to Varimo, many Finnish farms have been insured against salmonella outbreaks. The salmonella insurance was introduced after the 1995 epidemic. Farms using approved feed can be granted such insurance.
      Raisio Feed Ltd, in turn, will see to the product liability side of things by providing farms with new feed consignments to replace the faulty ones.
     
Finland has around 900 layer chicken farms. Last week salmonella was found at three of them. Initially the plan was to withdraw the farms’ eggs from the market, but then it was decided that the eggs did not present a danger to consumers.
      These are Finland’s first salmonella cases this side of the millennium, and the first-ever cases involving Raisio Feed’s products. Up to ten per cent of the feed raw material may be contaminated, but normally any germs are eliminated in the production process.
      The discovered salmonella bacteria are suspected of having ended up in the manufacturer’s Kanatiiviste product from foreign soy grind.
     
According to Varimo, the feed used by layer farms differs from the feed aimed at broiler farms. Eating chicken is therefore safe. Also the eggs available in shops in Finland are safe to be consumed even when raw.


Links:
  EVIRA, the Finnish Food Safety Authority

Helsingin Sanomat