Salmonella gizzard scare: Cook it, there’s nothing to fear – FDA

The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has allayed fears about the toxicity of salmonella infested gizzard transported into the country.

The Head of Corporate Affairs at the FDA, James Lartey explained in an interview with Citi News that cooking the infested gizzard thoroughly before consumption would kill the bacteria, salmonella.

His reaction comes on the back of reports that three containers of salmonella infested gizzard made their way into the country.

“This gizzard, if you cook it, whatever bacteria you are talking about is nullified through the heat. So, in actual fact, this is not something that we should even be worried about,” the Head of Corporate Affairs at the FDA," James Lartey said.

The containers marked as contaminated were imported from Brazil but were immediately confiscated when the arrived at the Tema port following an alert from authorities of the South American country.

The operation spearheaded by officials of the Veterinary Service Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture went viral, creating panic among the citizenry.

Mr. Lartey further noted that the importers of the containers carrying the salmonella infested gizzard followed due process since they the appropriate certification.

“Necessary examination that ought to be done was done and it also indicated there was no problem with the consignment,” he added.

He, however, admitted that the alert about the products came in too late for them to detect.

“At the time the clearance took place, the alert had not been received the products had been contaminated…the FDA only got to know about this alert a week ago; about a year after the product had been cleared.”

“If FDA knew about the alert, the time the alert came into, we would have taken the necessary measures to ensure the product was withdrawn from the market,” he assured.