Juan Agnes, the Executive Director of the South Sudan Nurses and Midwives Association - Credit: Moses Awan/Eye Radio - Dec. 28, 2023

A South Sudanese food safety expert is calling on the citizens to only eat local breed chickens, and warned against too much consumption of hybrid chickens, citing that it’s hazardous for human health.

Juan Agnes, the Executive Director of the South Sudan Nurses and Midwives Association pointed out that eating local chicken is healthy because it has no artificial chemicals.

According to a food safety expert, excessive consumption of hybrid chickens causes cholesterol, cancer, and other undiscovered diseases in human beings.

Speaking to Eye Radio on healthy lifestyle and environmental safety during the festive season on Thursday, Juan says people should mostly feed on local chickens because most of them are safe.

“These chickens we’re eating nowadays, some of them take one month or less to get matured because they have chemicals and a lot of fats that are hazardous to our health,” said Juan.

“These cause cholesterol, cancer, and other unknown diseases that we’ve not yet discovered in our bodies.”

“The chickens are injected with growth hormones that are also dangerous to our bodies when taken in excess. But because it is affordable, many people are rushing to buy it without analyzing all the health risks someone will be exposed to,” she said.

“I’d like to recommend people to mostly feed on local chickens because most of them are safe. Though consumed in excess, it has no dangers compared to other breeds of chickens.”

For his part, the President of the South Sudan Nurses and Midwives Association urges people to do physical exercise and increase water intake in their bodies.

Repent Khamis George says during the festive season people need to do physical exercise and also increase their intake of water.

“We know that, during the celebration people are relaxed, they’re staying at home but we also need to make sure that we do exercise,” Khamis said.

“Exercise is very important because stimulates our blood circulation, it improves our digestive systems as we eat a lot of sweets, and carbohydrates but exercise will burn the fats and we’ll be healthy,” he said.

“We should increase the intake of water. Water is life, as we continue to celebrate and eat. All the chemical processes that take place within us need water. So we need to rehydrate ourselves so that we stay healthy.”

Editors Note: Healthy Lifestyle During Festive Season and Keeping Our Environment Safe is a radio program implemented by the South Sudan Nurses and Midwives Association, with funding from UNFPA.