LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Cleansing the system

Moral and ethical values in public life, especially where it concerns our legislators, have been plummeting to irretrievable depths. We the people are left with no choice but to elect “criminals”. When we have such persons getting elected to Parliament to make laws that govern the nation, can their minions be far behind in emulating their leader? We cannot expect Parliament to enact laws to bar criminal elements from entering the portals of Parliament. The Supreme Court of India is our last hope. The top court should take the initiative to cleanse the system for the sake of the survival of democracy and to uphold constitutional values. Kosaraju Chandramouli, Hyderabad

Venky’s Chicken Products

I write this letter as the Company Secretary for Venky’s (India) Limited. The Hindu (and another media house) has published a report, “Venky’s pushing antibiotics as poultry growth promoter” (Inside pages, April 6, 2024 and online, with a link at thlink.in/Venkys), which alleges that Venky’s chicken has a heavy dosing of antibiotics. The story was aired on Live TV and circulated on social media platforms. The statement made by the media houses is unfounded, inaccurate and in contrast with the facts. Venky’s, a pioneer in the Indian poultry industry, has been supplying high quality chicken to its consumers for over four decades. One of the products sold by Venky’s is ‘processed and ready to eat chicken’ (Venky’s Chicken Products) which is made in state-of-the art processing units that have the highest standard of production practices and which are in strict compliance with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) norms. Our chicken processing units have internationally recognised certification such as HACCP and FSSC 22000.

Venky’s chicken products are made from internally sourced chicken meat — from birds raised in-house or grown under contract farming supervised by Venky’s. We can proudly state that the birds used in Venky’s Chicken Products are not fed with antibiotics on a preventive basis or as a growth promoter. The meat used to make Venky’s

Chicken Products is periodically tested at FSSAI-approved NABL-accredited laboratories for antibiotics residue, as per FSSAI norms. Venky’s Chicken Products are in compliance with FSSAI antibiotics residue norms.

Rohan Bhagwat,

Pune

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