There are 18 million ‘old’ hens in poultry farms across the country and they “haven’t been removed from the egg production cycle.” Earlier, such hens were used in production of “chicken paste,” which has now been banned due to the substandard quality of the product.
Typically, each month two million hens should be phased out from the production cycle.
According to the new directive from the ministry of health, using ‘old’ hens in production of grounded meat like sausages or salami is not prohibited, but the meat should be used after separating bones, Iranian Agriculture News Agency (IANA) reported.
“Given that separating bones is not economically affordable, in the recent months no egg-laying poultry has been sent to factories for ground meat production,” said Seyyed Farzad Talakesh, the secretary of the newly-founded “Egg Promotion Headquarters”.
