Czech authorities have revealed Salmonella has been detected in samples of chicken meat from Brazil.
The State Veterinary Administration (SVS) ordered the recall of two consignments of chicken, totaling more than 11 tons, due to Salmonella.
Both batches are currently being withdrawn from customers which were primarily catering establishments. Findings were made as part of ongoing controls aimed at poultry meat from countries outside the European Union.
The first product is a frozen chicken breast of 2 kilograms with a shelf life of Jan. 31, 2025.
An official sample was taken in the warehouse of Sofil s. r. o., in Prague. The importer to the Czech Republic was a company called Made, a trader based in the Netherlands. A wholesaler called Makro also distributed some of the products. More than 1,200 kilograms of meat was held at the warehouse, and SVS stopped its distribution.
The second product is a boneless and skinless chicken breast 2-kilogram with a date of April 3, 2025.
The sample, which was positive for Salmonella, was taken from a warehouse of Polar Trading s.r.o. The batch was part of a larger shipment sent mainly to restaurants and canteens. A notice on the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) lists Salmonella Minnesota as the type involved.
92 inspections have been carried out, and 20 samples have been taken since enhanced checks started at the beginning of September.
European regulation on fresh poultry meat covers only Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Typhimurium, so findings of other Salmonella types are deemed compliant.
Ukraine and Poland also implicated
In mid-September, the Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority (SZPI) warned consumers that a brand of chicken breast meat had tested positive for Salmonella Infantis. Inspectors took the sample at a site of the supermarket chain Penny Market.
The product came from Ukraine and was processed in Slovakia. It had a date of Aug. 11, 2023, so it was no longer available on the market, but SZPI issued the warning in case consumers had it at home in their freezers.
A similar finding was made in August, also of Salmonella Infantis in chicken from Ukraine and processed in Slovakia. However, this time, Tesco was involved as the sample was taken at one location of the retailer.
In mid-July, two other frozen chicken samples from Ukraine tested positive for Salmonella Infantis, and items were withdrawn from the market.
In recent months, Czech authorities have also posted several RASFF notifications about Salmonella Enteritidis in chicken from Poland.
In April, a control operation focused on poultry meat and eggs from non-EU countries. A total of 21 inspections were carried out, and 43 samples taken. Four tested positive for Salmonella, three meat samples from Brazil and one from Ukraine.
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