From: Our Meats From Abroad
by Jasper Copping

Several British suppliers source chicken from Brazil. It usually arrives frozen and may have been processed with heavily chlorinated water, which masks poor hygiene and is illegal in the UK. This Christmas thousands of Britons bought "chilled fresh" turkeys that had been shipped all the way from Brazil. The meat was kept at minus two degrees centigrade, as opposed to the minus 12 degrees that counts as "frozen". Many retailers also buy chicken from Thailand. There is currently an EU ban on importing fresh or raw poultry meat from the country, so the meat is cooked in Thailand and then shipped to the UK. Brazilian and Thai chickens can also be given antibiotic drugs that promote growth but are banned in Europe. Samples of chicken from these countries have been found to have contained residues of banned drugs.
The Sunday Telegraph, 10th February 1007