Spot-checks show a fifth of poultry import shipments contain salmonella

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Nearly 20 percent of the consignments of chicken and other poultry imported into Finland last year contained salmonella.
      In the National Food Agency Finland inspections, salmonella was discovered in poultry consignments from Poland, Hungary, France, and Brazil.
      In all, 54 poultry consignments were subjected to random inspections. Salmonella was detected in nine of them, despite the fact that certificates written in the countries of origin confirmed that the shipments were free of the dreaded bacteria, the daily Maaseudun tulevaisuus reported on Monday.
      According to senior inspector Taina Niskanen from the National Food Agency Finland, these spot-checks confirm that monitoring is needed.
      "Outside of the Nordic Countries, salmonella is a commonplace. Under those conditions it is difficult to produce meat that is 100 percentclean. We have to assume that salmonella will be detected every once in a while", Niskanen explains.
     
Certificates written in the country of origin do not guarantee that the meat is clear of salmonella.
      "Small quantities do not necessarily show up in initial samples. The bacteria may multiply during shipping, especially if the temperature is right."
      In Finnish meat production facilities salmonella is extremely rare. Broiler chickens, for instance, are inspected several times even during breeding. The aim is to contain a possible infection before the meat reaches shops.
      A national programme has been set up to control the spread of salmonella. Cattle, pigs, poultry, and their meat, are subjected to frequent testing, as are eggs.
      Thanks to intensive monitoring, fewer than one thousand people contract salmonella from products sold in Finland each year.
     
Last year, Finland imported some 8.1 million kilograms of poultry meat. As far as eggs go, Finland is self-sufficient.
      Because of the avian flu scare, there has been a ban on importing poultry from Asia for the past two years.
      The nearest countries from where the import of poultry is also prohibited are Turkey, Romania, and Croatia.


Links:
  National Food Agency Finland

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