Brussels, 09/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - According to an article in Agra Europe published on Monday 9 May, it is possible that the European Commission will withdraw its proposal to authorise the use of peracetic acid in the chicken carcasses decontamination process.
This proposal of December 2015 was introduced as part of the strategy to combat the Campylobacter bacteria and subsequently facilitate the imports of chickens from the US, which use this decontamination method on a mass scale (“bleached chickens”). This is all taking place at a time that the Europeans and Americans are negotiating a transatlantic free-trade agreement. It is also involves one of the main US demands for removing health and phytosanitary barriers in the context of these talks. The EU already authorised the use of lactic acid in 2013 for the treatment of bovine carcasses, as a measure of goodwill to help kick-start these talks.
The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) gave the go-ahead in March 2014 for the use of peracetic acid in Europe because it believed that the product was not toxic. Nonetheless, there are many different organisations and consumers that have emphasised that treating chicken carcasses in chemical baths does not coincide with the European "stable to table" concept based on contaminants control throughout the chain of production. The EU agricultural cooperative organisations (Copa-Cogeca) have been less categorical on this question. They defend the preventive European approach but consider, however, that the authorisation of peracetic acid use should also be an option. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)