Caged poultry items unsafe for humans
Condition of farms near capital ‘very poor’
Caged poultry products, which are widely used in Delhi and NCR region, are dangerous for human consumption. A study by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), a Central government body in three places (Karnal, Sonipat, and Gurgaon) in the neighbouring Haryana, has revealed that unhygienic poultry farms could lead to sudden outbreak of bacterial, viral, fungal, and communicable diseases like avian influenza, pox, pasteurella, coryza, and aspergillosis. This also means that eggs from these farms are also unfit for consumption due to high risk of contamination.
A team comprising three scientists of CSIRNEERI visited caged farms in Sonipat and Karnal districts and a cage-free farm in Gurgaon to understand poultry farm practices. They also did an assessment of environmental status at poultry farms and heavy metal analysis in feed grains and excreta slurry.
In another study done on eggs, it pointed out that eggs may contain large amounts of salmonella, both on the shell and inside the egg. However, fresh eggs collected from farms indicated less salmonella contamination. Since most consumers buy eggs from retail outlets, the chances of contracting salmonella infection increases.
The study was conducted by NEERI with the help of the Haryana Pollution Control Board. There is very little regulation with regard to poultry farming in India. This is the reason why even the Law Commission had begun to look into the matter. The total poultry population in India is 729.2 million, which is 12.39 per cent higher than the numbers in the previous census (Livestock Census, 2012).
Based on the observations made during visits to closed-cage and cagefree poultry farming system in Haryana, the report concluded that the condition of closed-cage poultry farms is very poor and is cruel for hens when compared to cagefree poultry system. The study done by NEERI shows that poultry workers and local residents living in or around the vicinity of poultry farms are more prone to catch the bacterial and viral infections.