Tasmanian chicken overlooked on hospital and prison menus

Tasmanian poultry producers not being able to supply chicken for the state’s public hospitals and prisons because they are not Halal certified has been described as a “missed opportunity”.

Instead, the chicken the Tasmanian government uses comes from Halal certified producers from interstate.

Halal certification for chicken requires poultry to be processed according to Islamic dietary laws, which includes a prayer at slaughter and supervision by a Muslim.

Tasmanian Country understands that Inghams provides chicken to the state government for hospitals and prisons.

While the company operates in Tasmania, the chicken Inghams provides to the government is from interstate.

A Tasmanian government spokesperson said the Department of Health has a contract to provide food and beverage products for health services, including hospitals.

“The Tasmania Prison Service is an external ordering authority to the Department of Health Food and Beverage Products contract.

“This means that the vast majority of food purchased by the prison is purchased through that contract, which is managed by the Department of Health.

“The Tasmania Prison Service is not involved in the negotiation of that contract, nor the suppliers' party to it.”

The state government says all the suppliers in the contract are Tasmanian businesses.

“However, we understand that due to national requirements that menu and meal planning should consider religious needs, including Halal, some food must be sourced from interstate, as there are no Halal-certified poultry producers in Tasmania.”

The requirements that the state government are referring to are the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards.

Those standards state that processes for meal and menu planning “should consider psychosocial, cultural and religious needs.”

Nichols Poultry, which TasFoods own, operates out of Sassafras in the state’s north-west.

TasFoods CEO Joshua Fletcher confirmed that Nichols Poultry is not Halal certified.

“We would be happy to speak to the government if they wish to source Tasmanian-grown and processed chicken products that supports employment and local business in North West Tasmania”, Mr Fletcher said.

TasFarmers President Ian Sauer said it was “a missed opportunity for Tasmanian farmers to be involved in the whole supply chain.”

“There may be a price disadvantage or impediment where it is cheaper to get those chickens on the mainland than they can in Tasmania.”

Tasmanian Small Business Council CEO Robert Mallett said he was disappointed that the government did not use local producers to supply chicken to the state’s public hospitals and prisons.

“I would have thought that the government should be trying harder to source small amounts of Halal chicken for those people who request it, and the majority of other chickens should be sourced locally.

“The vast majority of people would expect the government to be doing whatever it can to support local businesses.

“They’re out there saying for people to shop local, so for them to be too lazy to try and source chicken from different sources, or to be able to manage their menu options through their contractors, is very disappointing.”