RIYADH, 11 August — Prices of imported chicken in the local market went up by 17 percent after a ban on chicken produced by a national company following reports that its products were contaminated by salmonella bacteria.
After a tour of the poultry market in Riyadh on Friday, Arab News found that the prices of Brazilian chicken had gone up from SR44 to SR52 per carton (900 grams) and SR48 to SR57 per carton (1,000 grams) and SR59 to SR68 (1,200 grams).
The Saudi company, whose products were banned by the Commerce Ministry, refused to make any comments on the measure.
The ministry had taken 20 samples of chicken produced by the firm for tests at the ministry’s central laboratory and at the laboratories of King Faisal Specialist Hospital in the capital.
The ministry banned the company’s products in the beginning of this month and withdrew the quality mark after it was confirmed that its products contained salmonella bacteria, which causes various diseases.
Informed sources told Arab News that the ministry had sent veterinarians and other experts to monitor the company’s poultry farm in Qassim and find out the reasons for the contamination.
In the light of laboratory tests, the ministry will withdraw the company’s entire poultry products from the market and it will not give the company the certificate of origin to export its products.
The source said the ministry took the action after the company had violated a number of regulations even after the warnings given during the past three years.
The Saudi Arabian Standards Organization had withdrawn the company’s quality mark two years ago. SASO later gave it back the quality mark when the company fulfilled its conditions.
Last April the ministry did not release 630 tons of American chicken meat as they did not conform to the Kingdom’s standards and contained salmonella bacteria.
