Chicken safety falls through departmental grey zones

Srinagar, Dec 8: A paradox: Poultry is checked for disease and mortality on entry into Kashmir by the Animal Husbandry Department. If it is stored at a shop after slaughter, the Food Safety Department is mandated to ensure safe and hygienic storage conditions. However, between Lakhanpur and the consumer’s plate, it’s a no man’s land, no department’s jurisdiction.

On Sunday, the discovery of 119 dead chickens in a poultry supply being unloaded in Srinagar brought to the fore the loopholes in the monitoring of the poultry supply chain.

The truckload of chicken had been issued a certificate of health and livestock by the Animal Husbandry Department at the Lakhanpur check post.

However, the supply, when it was being delivered to the market just a few hours later, had a high number of dead birds, and presumably, many more birds could have been sick or under stress and near dying.

When Greater Kashmir spoke to various departments regarding the issue, what came to fore shows how the “grey zones” in responsibilities allows the food supply to be compromised, often rendering it unhealthy and unsafe.

The Animal Husbandry Department has the primary responsibility of registration and regulation of poultry farms.

It also has the mandate of vaccination, surveillance, and testing of birds for diseases.

It is the responsibility of this department to issue health certificates for inter-district and inter-state movement of poultry, the same way it had issued the certificate to the truckload carrying 119 dead chickens on Sunday.

However, the department officials said it is not their mandate to check poultry stock with the dealers and in the market.

Liverfluke and Rinderpest Officer, Kashmir, Dr Muhammad Ashraf Dar, who looks after the Lakhanpur entry point, said the department carries out their inspections at designated points only.

“If there is a complaint, we look into it at the farms also,” he said.

The safe transportation of poultry is a grey zone.

Officials privy to the practice said there are no guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) on how the poultry must be transported, for how long they can be kept in transit, how they will be fed and how the temperature can be controlled.

Moreover, the grossly unhygienic manner of bundling poultry into cages in transport trucks is a questionable practice that puts public health at stake.

The poultry dealers, stockists, and sellers also have no monitoring from any department.

The Food Safety Department looks after the chicken that is being sold in the market, however, after the slaughter, particularly if it has been stored.

The department has recently been proactive in making the guidelines and best practices of poultry and other meat and meat product storage public, in order to ensure public health.

It has also been carrying out inspections of meat sellers to ensure hygienic storage of meats.

“Poultry vaccination, the antibiotic abuse in their farming, and their disease status is a labyrinth that consumers are unaware of, while no department takes responsibility for ensuring safety in this sector,” a senior official said, pleading anonymity.