Our standards for poultry in the USA... is an embarrassment....

[Brunty_Farms]

The European Union refuses to buy U.S. chicken
Few people realize that the European Union has banned the import of all US poultry since 1997. This month, EU agriculture ministers voted to continue the ban despite aggressive pressure from the United States. The issue? The standard practice in the US poultry industry is to wash the carcasses in chlorinated water to kill bacteria.

European health authorities are not convinced that it’s safe to ingest the small amounts of chlorine that remain on the meat and concluded that lifting the ban would “threaten the community’s entire set of food production standards.”

John Bowis from the UK was more outspoken. He told reporters that “lifting the ban would be “outrageous” and would degrade EU citizens to the status of “guinea pigs.”

Meanwhile, hundreds of millions of US citizens are unwittingly playing that role.

“EU Ban Remains on US Chickens” December 19, 2008, Meatprocess.com





Effective November 1, 2007, Russians will no longer import poultry products from 17 U.S. processing plants. The reason? The plants don’t measure up to their health and safety standards.

This summer, the Russian Federation Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Service audited dozens of facilities around the country and found that the following plants failed to meet their minimal standards:

Choctaw Maid Farms, Forest, MS.
Sanderson Farms, Hazlehurst, MS.
Sanderson Farms, Collins, MS.
Mountaire Farms, Selbyville, DE.
Tyson Foods, Carthage, MS.
Fieldale Farms, Murrayville, GA.
Nordic, Atlanta, GA.
Peco Foods, Bay Springs, MS.
Sylvest Farms, Montgomery, AL.
Tyson Foods, Clarksville, AR.
Americold Logistics, Montgomery, AL.
Americold Logistics, Charlotte, NC.
Millard Refrigerated Service, Richland, MS.
Stanford Refrigerated Warehouses, Macon, GA.
Greko, Cumming, GA.
Simmons Foods, Siloam Springs, AR.
The USDA is investigating the Russian claims.

Do you know where your poultry comes from? Ask your store manager.

(Alicia Karapetian. Poultry News, 10/19/07. www.meatingplace.com)

 

[Poohbear]

What does other countries use to kill bacteria on processed fowl? When was the last time you got sick from eating chicken processed in the USA? Perhaps some may not want the competition of the American market. Demonizing the american fowl would be ONE way to stop our exports, right?

 

[Brunty_Farms]

A lot of other country's don't sanitize their poultry because they don't have too. They have fewer birds per vat that chills them, and many of the birds in other countries are "air chilled". No water is used.

I know that I for one do not use "chlorinated water" to disinfect my birds that I raise. I'm sure no one on here does this as well.

I just find it upsetting that the USA isn't the country that is setting the standards for the industry but in fact it's other countries.

One option that I do is raise my own instead of buying poultry from big producers. I give a lot of locals around here that same option by providing chicken that isn't saturated with chemicals and humanly raised.


Edited:

Forgot to mention that I personally have never got sick from poultry but I also stopped eating it 9 years ago. But a handful of my customers can't eat chicken that is put into chlorinated water as they have an alergic reaction. They come here....and eat our chicken without any problems.

 

[HennysMom]

Okay but I have a question... if chlorinated water is an issue.... uhm.. all city water is chlorinated and people drink that - its a standard practice and must be done by law (DH works in water and wastewater). Some are using UV light as means to kill bacteria in water supplies, however chlorine must still be used.

Unless you're on a well system.....

So, yeah - my question is also not only for people in the US that have issues with chlorine (like Brunty is saying about customers with chicken getting dunked) - but also what is the standard for drinking water in other countries then?

All I keep thinking (and hearing) is "Dont drink the water..." - you know, like when you go on vacay? LOL

So what gives there?

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Good question, It may be the levels? Or maybe even a different kind of solution to sanitize? I will look into it.

I thought these were interesting as I found them on the www.eatwild.com site.

 

[cqranch]

Why should one country set the standard for the entire world? Each country has their own set of standards, mostly likely in every aspect, not just poultry. The US bans imports from other countries because they don't meet our standards, so why should it be any different that some of our products would be banned. I would be interested to see which country is producing, processing and consuming the most poultry.

 

[the1much]

wonder if thats the reason your suppose to rinse of ya bird before eatin,, heh

 

[redhen]

Quote:
true!..i never thought of that reason!..bet ya it IS why!..

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Here is your answer.... The first one is used to treat drinking water, the second is used to disinfect poultry water and swimming pools.


Chlorine dioxide disinfection
ClO2 is used principally as a primary disinfectant for surface waters with odor and taste problems. It is an effective biocide at concentrations as low as 0.1 ppm and over a wide pH range. ClO2 penetrates the bacterial cell wall and reacts with vital amino acids in the cytoplasm of the cell to kill the organisms. The by-product of this reaction is chlorite.
Chlorine dioxide disinfects according to the same principle as chlorine, however, as opposed to chlorine, chlorine dioxide has no harmful effects on human health.



Sodium Hypochlorite is used to disinfect the carcass of the bird.

So indeed it is two different solutions that are used.

Another method to use other than air chilled:

Successful trials, including several at the University of Georgia, have shown that electrolyzed water is highly effective at killing food-borne bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli and Listeria, without affecting the quality of the food.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

USA has set standards in the world for a long time in many diffferent things.

Why stop with the husbandry of our animals?

Sure other countries have bans as well and have their own rules. We set bans on countries as to what we know of the effects of poultry that are not raised to our standards. However there isn't much study on the effect of Sodium Hypochlorite on people.... so as of right now it's not one of our standards.

But for other countries such as Western Europe, they notice that a chemical such as Sodium Hypochlorite is not natural to be in poultry, so they don't use it. Instead of asking questions later, they deal with the issue before it happens.


Found this on a site:

What are the health effects of sodium hypochlorite?

Exposure

There is no threshold value for to sodium hypochlorite exposure. Various health effects occur after exposure to sodium hypochlorite. People are exposed to sodium hypochlorite by inhalation of aerosols. This causes coughing and a sore throat. After swallowing sodium hypochlorite the effects are stomach ache, a burning sensation, coughing, diarrhea, a sore throat and vomiting. Sodium hypochlorite on skin or eyes causes redness and pain. After prolonged exposure, the skin can become sensitive. Sodium hypochlorite is poisonous for water organisms. It is mutagenic and very toxic when it comes in contact with ammonium salts.

Sodium hypochlorite in swimming pools

The concentration of sodium hypochlorite that is found in swimming pools is generally not harmful to people. When there is too much chlorine in the water, this burns the body tissues, which causes damage to air tracts, the stomach and the intestines, the eyes and the skin. When sodium hypochlorite is used in swimming pools, it sometimes causes red eyes and it gives off a typical chlorine odor. When there is a lot of ureum (a mixture of urine and sweat) present, hypochlorous acid and ureum react to form chloramines. These chloramines irritate mucous membranes and cause the so-called ' chlorine smell'. In most swimming pools, these problems are prevented by water purification and ventilation. Eyes irritation disappears after a while.