Walmart has invested $3 million into a chicken processing and eggs facility in Costa Rica to ensure food quality for the poultry it sells there, according to Spanish media source La Republica.net
The retailer purchased machinery to automate processes previously performed manually in a plant that slaughters 200,000 birds each week supplying its retail supermarkets.
The media report states that Walmart is working closely with its growers and breeders to ensure product quality and food safety guidelines are met and certifications are received before the birds are sent to the plant for processing.
The certification and controlling the process from the egg to retail freezer is a major step in selling the public on food safety practices in light of Avian Influenza concerns often reported in developing countries, said poultry analysts.