The association said reports about corruption and the evasion of food safety checks in the Brazilian meat and poultry industries were a continuing concern for South African consumers.
African News Agency reported the Brazilian police arrested the former chief executive of major food processor BRF on charges that he and other executives knew the company, the world’s largest poultry exporter, engaged in fraud to evade food safety checks.
“The South African Poultry Association calls on the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to determine whether BRF is a supplier of MDM to South Africa, and if so, how many thousand tons are imported every month from this company,” the association said.
“It is a matter of concern for the industry that, while many countries are blocking our processed meat products, South Africa continues to accept untested imported MDM, and we now find that food safety measures in the exporting country may have been circumvented.”
It urged the government to also establish from Brazilian authorities whether the food safety tests that BRF allegedly evaded included tests for listeria.
“Given the serious outbreak of listeriosis in South Africa and the deaths of 180 people, we hope this is something the department will investigate speedily.”
