Zarqa shop caught soaking spoiled poultry in bleach to conceal smell

AMMAN – Zarqa health personnel were doing their daily rounds on Wednesday when they noticed something suspicious at a shop located in the city, 22km east of the capital, according to an official.

They discovered that the store owner was using a chlorine-based bleach to conceal the smell and taste of spoiled frozen chicken, Zarqa Mayor Imad Momani told The Jordan Times.

“The owner was soaking the inedible frozen poultry in the bleach,” he said.

The health inspectors seized 70 kilogrammes of the poultry.

“That would make them [chicken] very poisonous. This would have caused a catastrophe if they had not been seized,” Momani highlighted.

Ingesting chlorine-contaminated food or drinks may lead to corrosive tissue damage of the gastrointestinal tract, according to the US National Library of Medicine.

Chlorine reacts with water inside and outside of the body (such as the water in the digestive tract) to form hydrochloric acid that can be extremely poisonous, according to the institution’s website.

Zarqa Municipality teams destroyed the chlorine-flavoured poultry and the owner was referred for legal action, Momani added.

As the fasting month of Ramadan is around the corner, expected to start in mid-June according to the Islamic lunar calendar, Zarqa health inspectors are intensifying their field campaigns, the mayor said.

“Instead of giving and helping others, greedy people make use of the month to maximise their profits at the expense of consumers’ health and safety,” Momani noted.

Consumption of food and drink usually rises substantially in Ramadan, the ninth month of the Hijri calendar, during which Muslims abstain from eating and drinking from dawn until sunset.

With over 200 health inspectors working in Zarqa, the mayor said staff members are “more than enough to control violations in the area”.