Contaminant research
Food Safety Residue Survey Programme
Find project reports associated with monitoring programmes for agricultural chemicals and other contaminants in New Zealand foods:
Documents for contaminants
Total Diet Surveys (TDSs) enable us to estimate and monitor dietary exposures to chemical residues, contaminant and nutrient elements.
- Scientific interpretive summary - Chlorine and poultry [DOCX, 14 KB]
Chlorine has a long history of use for the microbial disinfection of potable waters and use in
water for food processing. However, in addition to its biocidal activity, chlorine is known to
form disinfection by-products (DBPs) of public health concern during the chlorination
process.
Use of chlorinated compounds as disinfectants and/or decontaminants is common in the poultry industry; the three most common being aqueous chlorine, chlorine dioxide and acidified sodium chlorite (ASC). It is well-known that the chlorination of water supplies can lead to the formation of chlorinated by-products in water but there is a paucity of data on food safety aspects e.g. do chlorinated compounds form in or on treated chicken and might they pose risks to the health of consumers. ESR were contracted to conduct a detailed review of the scientific literature on this issue and if there are any potential risks, identify possible risk management options.