The Food Standards Agency (FSA) from England has communicated to consumers buying different poultry products such as turkey, duck, capon, or goose that those products probably were frozen and defrosted before the sale as chilled as a way to keep the stock of the products for the Christmas.
Therefore, the statement established that all products should be clearly labeled as “defrosted” and are suitable for home freezing if it says on the label. All this information will be available in the websites of the stores and retailers.
Fortunately for chicken producers and consumers, this change does not apply to them, but it is necessary for turkey, duck, capon, and goose products that will be sold from November 28 until December 31.
The FSA indicated that the advice only applies to England and Wales, and it comes after the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Welsh Government announced a range of measures to help support the poultry industry with the current challenges presented by the bird flu.
According to this new measure, Narriman Looch, Head of Foodborne Disease Control at the FSA, said:
“Like other poultry, these defrosted products will be perfectly safe for you and your family to eat as long as you follow the instructions on the label and practice good food hygiene.
This is different to our usual advice of not refreezing raw meat thawed at home as the food industry has specialist equipment to very quickly freeze, then defrost these products in controlled conditions. Home freezers are less efficient so defrosting and refreezing raw meat at home could allow the growth of harmful germs.”
Additionally, the FSA has the following
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