Broiler chicken poses no health risk: Agricultural minister

Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzaque said consuming broiler chicken poses no risks to the general public's health.

When he revealed the results of a study done by the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council, he said that the amount of antibiotics present in broiler chicken was lower than the acceptable limit.

The study's principal investigator was Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, chief scientific officer (livestock division) of BARC.

In order to detect the presence of 10 antibiotics and three heavy metals, the BARC tested 315 samples from 1,200 broiler chickens across the nation, including feed.

In the meat of the broiler chicken, the BARC discovered the presence of two antibiotics, oxytetracycline and doxycycline, as well as three leads: arsenic, chromium, and lead, all of which were much below the maximum tolerated level.

Lead and antibiotic levels were also discovered to be lower than acceptable levels in bones, the liver, and the kidney.