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Carcinogen in Iranian chicken, fish

Business Materials 23 May 2015 14:45 (UTC +04:00)

Tehran, Iran, May 23

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Head of Iran's Veterinary Organization Mehdi Khalaj said substances have been found in some food products in Iran that can cause cancer.

Meat products were tested for contamination with 39 pollutants, not showing any positive results, but there were a carcinogenic colorful substance in trout, mycotoxin in milk, and toxic heavy metals in chicken, he said.

Khalaj said that the amount of the carcinogenic substances in the samples has been too small to cause any caution, ISNA news agency reported May 23.

However he said that necessary cautions have been given to production units.

He said the recent analysis took samples from red meat, chicken, fish, eggs, milk, honey, livestock feed, etc.

Malachite green was found in the trout which is a sort of colorful substance used in dying, he said, adding that some trout farmers use the toxic substance as pesticide.

Iranian Deputy Minister of Agriculture Hassan Rokni said February 23 that Iran expected to export over 100,000 metric tons of chicken meat in the current Iranian fiscal year (which started March 21).

He noted that Iran is the seventh country in the world with large chicken meat production facilities, adding that Iran became independent of importing chicken two years ago.

Each year about 800,000 metric tons of red meat is produced in Iran, most of which is mutton and beef. Due to religious codes, no pork is produced in Iran.

Follow the author on Twitter: @mehdisepahvand

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