The Food Safety Authority has called on butchers to comply with guidelines for storage temperatures and use-by dates for raw chicken fillets.
The authority said the findings of a recent survey show that 23% of butchers have no basis for the use-by date they apply to the loose chicken fillets they are selling their customers.
Food Safety Authority Chief Executive Professor Alan Reilly said this is not acceptable as consumers should feel 100% assured that the chicken fillets they are buying are of the highest quality and that the use-by dates on the food label are correct.
The survey was conducted into the microbiological quality of raw chicken fillets that were distributed to butchers in gas flushed bulk packs and are sold loose to the consumer.
Although the survey found that the majority of butchers (92%) stored chicken fillets at the recommended temperature of 5C or cooler; 8% did not provide a use-by date as required by law and 23% provided a use-by date for which they had no basis.
These results indicate that the affected chicken fillets may be a cause for concern with respect to spoilage rather than food safety for consumers.
Given that consumers may then store these chicken fillets in the fridge at home, there is a strong possibility that some of the fillets would show signs of physical spoilage, such as smell, taste or appearance, when consumers go to prepare and cook them.
