Banning fresh chicken 'not the answer'

The New Zealand Food Safety Authority says banning fresh chickens to lessen increasing food poisoning infections is not the answer.

The country's poor food safety record was put into the spotlight yesterday after a report by public health researchers said campylobacter rates from fresh chicken sold in supermarkets were skyrocketing.

The study from University of Otago School of Medicine and Health said New Zealand had the world's highest reported rates of campylobacter infection, which causes food poisoning.

Since the research was completed, rates have risen to a new high of 416 cases per 100,000 people for the 12 months ending May 2006, based on 15,553 cases notified during that period.

The study recommended a blanket ban on the sale of fresh chicken and suggested only frozen poultry be sold.

But New Zealand Food Safety Authority's principal microbiologist Roger Cook told National Radio today it was too early to blame fresh chicken for the rise of infection cases.

"At the moment the Food Safety Authority are looking at the various options we have available, but science certainly wouldn't tell us that freezing all chicken from this point onwards is a valid intervention," he said.

Dr Cook said the authority and the Poultry Industry Association were looking at options other than a total ban on fresh chicken.

" One of the major ones being decontamination of poultry meat before it goes on sale -- with chemicals that are quite safe, just variations of chlorine and sodium chloride."

However lead study author Michael Baker urged two key approaches to reduce the harm from the campylobacter epidemic.

"First, we have to acknowledge that contaminated chicken is the major cause of this epidemic. A good start would be an open public dialogue between the poultry industry, regulators, scientists and consumer organisations about the scale of the problem and how to address it using proven methods.

"Second, we should immediately switch to frozen poultry and seriously consider banning the sale of fresh chicken for human consumption, unless it can be shown to have minimal contamination. Freezing chicken greatly reduces contamination levels."

Dr Baker also advocates a research programme to evaluate the impact of any switch to frozen poultry.

"That way we would know at the end of the day how much illness had been prevented."

- NZPA