Local consumers of poultry products need not be concerned of a possible supply dry-up or consumption of contaminated chicken or eggs – well, for now at least.
So advised Izaak Breytenbach, general manager of the Broiler Organisation at the South African Poultry Association (SAPA), amid the avian influenza outbreak, which has affected farms across the commercial poultry sector through broiler breeders since initially detected in April.
Both the commercial layer and broiler sectors have been hard hit by the recent outbreaks, surpassing bird flu cases experienced in any year since initial outbreaks in commercial poultry of 2017.
According to Breytenbach in excess of 2,5 million chickens, which represents 30% of the country’s flock, have been culled to contain two strains of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak, H5N1 and H7N6.
However, while this loss of birds is devastating for the poultry industry and future production of eggs, he assured consumers they need not be concerned about food safety.
“I don’t believe local consumers need be concerned, as 70% of all flocks are still on the floor and producing hatching eggs and meat, so supply will not dry up. We will just see a reduced supply,” Breytenbach said.
“In terms of food safety, HPAI is a disease of long-living birds and no broilers have contracted the disease. None of the infected flocks’ meat or eggs will go into the food supply chain, so meat is absolutely safe to eat.”
Consumers’ other concern is the possible price increase as a result of shortages. “Depending on how severe the shortage will be at its peak, it will put upwards pressure on price,” Breytenbach admitted.
He further pointed out that the broiler meat market showed no shortage at present, but the impact of the culling of birds was expected to take effect in about seven to eight weeks.
“At that stage broiler-supply numbers will go down, but there are mitigating factors: the industry sits on excess meat stocks that will be released strategically; it is also importing in excess of 21,5 million hatching eggs to mitigate the shortage and the expectation is that importers will respond to the shortage and import vast volumes of meat.
“We are working hard to contain and eradicate the disease by following a stamp-out policy – any infected bird is culled and disposed of on site, including the eggs.”
Dr Abongile Balarane, general manager of the SAPA egg organisation, said all the affected farms were immediately placed under quarantine and no live chickens or eggs were allowed to be removed from any of them.
He refuted myths that consumers should avoid eating eggs and that eggs on store shelves are not safe to eat. He said there has been very tight supplies of the eggs in the trade due to the lost production.
“We have seen the normal forces of supply and demand driving the prices of eggs in the trade.
“The avian flu outbreak understandably creates concerns among consumers, who can rest assured eating properly cooked eggs and chicken does not pose a risk of infecting humans, as heat effectively destroys the virus. There are no reported cases of the spread of the virus from chicken meat or eggs to humans,” Balarane said.
“There are many strict guidelines for safety measures in an outbreak such as this, where we can with certainty be comfortable that the eggs we are sold are safe to eat.”
According to a representative of Lazena Poultry in Firlands, business there remained unaffected by the outbreak.
