As Brazilian chicken returns to South African supermarkets, food safety activists are sounding the alarm. FairPlay founder Francois Baird says that with Brazil’s dodgy track record – from smuggling drugs in frozen chicken to dodging safety laws – South Africa needs to be extra careful.
“Brazil’s poultry producers have had notable – and horrific – lapses in food safety, particularly relating to chicken exports,” Baird warned.
After a bird flu scare earlier this year, South Africa banned all Brazilian poultry from 1 May. That ban was lifted on 4 July, and the first shipments are expected to hit our shores in late August or early September.
But this isn’t just about bird flu. Brazil is the world’s top chicken exporter, and more than 80% of SA’s poultry imports come from there. Baird says this gives us every reason to keep our eyes wide open.
Chicken and cocaine?
In 2023, international authorities uncovered cocaine hidden in frozen chicken containers shipped from Brazil to South Africa. And that’s not the only scandal on Brazil’s meat export record.
Back in 2017, a global food scandal dubbed “Operation Weak Flesh” rocked the Brazilian meat industry. Officials were busted for bribing inspectors to approve rotten meat, with chemicals used to mask the smell. South Africa and several other countries temporarily banned Brazilian imports.
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Slave labour and salmonella
In 2018, the US-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy dropped another bombshell: forced labour in Brazil’s meat industry was described as “endemic”.
Then, in 2019, the EU banned Brazilian poultry after detecting the dangerous food poisoning bug salmonella. It cropped up again last year in chicken exported to the Netherlands.
Environmental watchdogs have also raised red flags. Some of Brazil’s top meat companies were fined for buying cattle raised on illegally deforested land in the Amazon – a major contributor to climate change.
Who’s watching?
Baird says there’s concern that Brazil might soon be allowed to self-certify the safety of its exports to South Africa.
“We should not and must not outsource our food safety to another country, and especially where it creates a conflict of interest,” he said. “To adapt a famous saying: the price of food safety is eternal vigilance.”
He added that imported chicken is often sold to SA’s poorest communities – already vulnerable to foodborne illnesses like listeriosis and insecticide poisoning.
His message? If Brazil’s chicken is coming back, SA authorities must tighten up inspections, enforce proper labelling, and keep dodgy players out of the food chain.
Because what’s on your plate shouldn’t come with a side of scandal.
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