Irish chicken absolutely safe and free from bird flu, says IFA
IFA Poultry committee chairman Alan Graham said Irish consumers need have no worries about any aspect of the production standards and quality of Irish chicken.
Mr Graham said it should be borne in mind that the current crisis in Thailand and Asia is thousands of miles away.
It has nothing to do with Irish poultry production which is now grown solely on a vegetarian diet, he said.
“Within a matter of weeks the Irish poultry sector will be introducing a Quality Assurance scheme for Irish chicken which will reaffirm the high standard ... within the sector.
“The groundwork at farm level is almost completed and most chicken farmers have been independently audited for this Bord Bia Quality Assurance Scheme,” he said.
Mr Graham said consumers can be confident that Irish chicken is an absolutely safe product and need have no fears about its continued use. Meanwhile, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has assured consumers that the threat to public health from bird flu through eating cooked chicken is negligible.
The key source of human infection is direct contact with infected birds. No live flocks of chicken or hatching eggs are imported into Ireland or the EU from countries in the Far East.
