The Food Safety Authority has been reassured by an investigation into the supply and processing of chicken sold in restaurants and takeaway bars in Auckland.
The FSA says the two-day operation was planned because of concerns that some operators are buying live birds from poultry farms before illegally slaughtering and selling them to food businesses.
The agency targeted food outlets considered to be at a higher risk of non-compliance in this area.
But assistant response director Glen Neal says all 25 businesses that it visited were buying their chicken from legitimate sources.
He says chicken can carry food-bourne diseases like Campylobacter, which need to be controlled during the slaughter process through a proper risk management programme.
