Submitted by Dr. Robert D. Lucas
Dr. Robert D. Lucas
Dun-Low lane
Bridgetown
Barbados, BB11157
2nd September, 2018
Barbados Underground
Bridgetown, Barbados
West Indies
Dear Sir/Madam
In the Sunday Sun newspaper of the 17th. July, on page 6A, mention was made of a mogul in the chicken industry, who seemed taken aback at the importation of chicken wings. The mogul had a grouse about the local Standard Act being breached; that the country of origin of the chicken wings had not been printed on the packed wings.. He said “he witnessed chicken wings in supermarkets without the required information.” He was also concerned that country would not be able to trace the place of origin of the wings.
First let me state that industry mogul is a hypocrite as I will show later. Since the Barbados Agricultural Development Marketing Corporation (BADMC) is the sole importer of wings, the matter of traceability (assuming everything is above board) is easy.
I have, on numerous occasions in letters to the Editor in Advocate newspaper said that, the local poultry industry is an artificial one. The feed ingredients, the medications, the hatching eggs, the packing and slaughtering equipment are all imported. The only things that are local in the industry are water and cement and even then, oil is imported and used in the pumping of water from wells and in the manufacture of cement. I have also stated in the past in the Advocate newspaper that, the industry is actually a cartel which at times resorts to apparent attempts to blackmail Government by claiming workers would be sent home. I have also in the past in your newspaper stated that, I have a problem with about two percent of the population (roughly representative of the chicken industry), holding ninety-eight percent of the population to ransom.
On numerous occasions in letters to the Editor I have spoken about the added-water problem in the poultry industry. The process is banned in the USA and in the European Union. Adding water to dress poultry results in the product being deemed adulterated. Additionally, the practice is unhygienic and it also increases the weight of the individual bird and the cost to the consumer. Also from a microbial point of view, the addition of bacteriostats/bactericides to the water in the spin-chiller exerts a selective pressure on microorganisms which can result in microbial resistance to these chemicals.
The mogul should insist that water added is printed on the labels of local produced poultry; to do as is currently done is the height of hypocrisy.
Sincerely
Robert D. Lucas, PH.D., CFS.
Food Biotechnologist
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