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CFIA reminds Canadians of need to cook frozen raw breaded poultry well
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Friday, 16 March, 2018, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Ottawa
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The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), along with its federal food safety partners, Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, as well as the industry, has reminded the citizens of the country about the importance of always fully cooking frozen raw breaded poultry products prior to consumption, as salmonella is commonly found in raw chicken and frozen raw breaded chicken products.
They have also been advised to adopt proper food handling techniques and follow cooking instructions to limit the risk of foodborne illnesses. The instructions are in line with the common objective of the aforementioned agencies to ensure that Canadians have access to safe and healthy food (which is a top priority for the federal government).
While extensive efforts have been made by the federal food safety partners and the industry to increase consumer awareness that these products are raw and need to be fully cooked before consumption, the industry has made significant attempts to improve labelling and cooking instructions on packages. Despite these efforts, frozen raw breaded chicken products continue to be identified as a source of salmonella infection in Canada.
As such, the CFIA is working with industry to identify and implement measures at the manufacturing or processing level to reduce salmonella to below a detectable amount in frozen raw breaded chicken products such as chicken nuggets, chicken fingers, chicken strips, popcorn chicken and chicken burgers that are packaged for retail sale. This approach focuses the responsibility on the poultry industry and represents a fundamental change to existing requirements for frozen raw breaded chicken products.
These new measures call for processors to identify salmonella as a hazard and to implement changes in order to produce an end product that reduces salmonella to below a detectable amount. The CFIA has granted industry a 12-month implementation period, to begin immediately, to make these changes.
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