Relaxed! Eating chicken is safe.
By Payoongsak Somyanontanakul
Vice president – Poultry
Charoen Pokphand Foods Plc
Many parents are concerned of chicken meat safety. They are not sure if there is chemical residue left in the chicken meat that may cause precocious puberty. This question arises as people notice that it takes much less time to raise chicken nowadays. This concern has also affected people’s access to high quality protein source like chicken meat. Well, the answer to these questions is “Thai chicken meat is safe and meets international food safety standard.”
From my over 20 years of experience in poultry industry, I can confirm that Thailand’s poultry industry, including CPF’s chicken farms, is free of hormone and growth-enhancing additives. It is therefore impossible to have such chemical residue in chicken meat that causes precocious puberty as many people fear.
To give you more evidence, let me share with you this information. In 1986, the Ministry of Public Health issued the Ministerial Announcement No. 417/2529 on Termination of Drugs. The announcement prohibits Hexoestrol, which is used in poultry sterilization and treatment hormone. In other words, hexoestrol is a growth-enhancement additive. The Ministry of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives also issued an announcement on drug control prohibiting the use of growth-enhancement hormones or prohibited substances specified in other announcement. While Thailand implements strict control, trade partner countries like those in the European Union also prohibit the use of growth-enhancement hormones in animal husbandry.
It is therefore completely impossible for the poultry industry to use such hormones because it is illegal in Thailand and European Union which is Thailand’s major trading partner.
Now, the question on why chicken grow quickly. The answer lies on the natural breeding process, which can be easily explained by basic genetics. Original breeds and those bred with the help of modern science and medical technology are involved in the breeding process. Oximeter has been used to select genes related to healthy lungs. The younger generation of chicken with larger and strong lungs can grow faster. ECG equipment is used to check the chicken heart health and blood pressure, the same way we do in human beings. This allows us to select chicken with strong heart and good blood circulation system. Lixi Scope is used to check chicken leg and bone structure while X-Rays machine is used to check whether chicken are healthy.
When the new and stronger chicken generation is bred, they are raised in the enhancing environment. Fed with good animal feed suitable for different age and having good disease prevention, chicken become healthy and grow fast. This explains why chicken grow well naturally thanks to their preferable genetic traits. Through this development process, raising chicken requires less time, from 52 days in the past to only 45 days at present.
In addition to breeding and selection process, farm management contributes to fast chicken growth. The closed system or Evaporative Cooling System (EVAP) allows farmers to control all factors in favor of the chicken, including ventilation, lighting and automatic feeding. This reduces stress and allows chicken to have good rest. Therefore, they grow fast. Chicken are like young children who need lots of sleep. In EVAP housing, chicken sleep 6-8 hours a day. If chicken are exposed to too strong light and for longer hours, they will become stressed. Loss of physical balance can cause sudden death in the end because of heart system overload that causes bad legs and fighting would cause scratches and wounds on the skin.
Next, animal feed. Many people think that some chemical substances are added to promote growth. This is also “impossible.” Animal feed is also strictly controlled. When growth-enhancement additives are prohibited, such chemicals are prohibited in animal feed as well. Residue from growing crops for animal feeds is not a problem, either. Animal feed producers have to check carefully before they source the raw materials for production. No one would allow contamination in raw materials because that would be harmful to chicken and may cause direct effect on consumers and businesses. No one would risk doing that.
Growth-enhancement injection in small chicks and grown up chicken is also a misunderstanding. All chicken need to receive vaccines so as to prevent diseases. The injection is for vaccine, and not for growth hormones. At present, there is no direct contact between farmers and chicken and therefore injection is impossible. For the vaccine, there is no report on residue in chicken meat. And, in chicken processing, all chicken have to be checked and certified by officials from the Department of Livestock Development that they are chemical-free before they are processed.
Precocious puberty is therefore not involved with chicken. We should focus on the wrong consumption behavior that causes over nutrition in children, such as high fat food consumption that causes high cholesterol in children. Parents should therefore pay more attention to their children’s eating behavior to prevent obesity. Get your children exercise and ensure appropriate diet would be the right solution and prevention to precocious puberty.
I hope what I have explained here would help ease parent’s worries. Then, chicken will no longer become a scapegoat.
