Rabat – As scorching temperatures continue to grip several regions of the Kingdom, Morocco’s food safety watchdog is stepping up its warnings to consumers. The National Office of Food Safety (ONSSA) has issued a fresh set of guidelines aimed at helping Moroccan households avoid the health risks tied to improper handling of chicken meat, a staple on dinner tables across the country.
The agency’s first and most fundamental piece of advice concerns where shoppers buy their poultry in the first place. ONSSA is urging consumers to purchase chicken exclusively from licensed slaughterhouses and certified poultry processing units, stressing that this single choice does more than any other to guarantee both the safety and the quality of the meat that ultimately reaches the family table. Buying from unregulated or informal sellers, the office warns, carries risks that are often invisible until it is too late.
Temperature control is the second pillar of the guidance, and arguably the most urgent given the current heatwave sweeping through parts of Morocco. ONSSA recommends that fresh chicken never be kept above 6 degrees Celsius. That threshold matters: bacterial growth accelerates sharply once meat sits in warmer conditions, a danger compounded this week by daytime highs pushing past 40 degrees in several provinces.
Shopping habits also come under scrutiny in the agency’s recommendations. Consumers are advised to make chicken the very last item they pick up before heading to the checkout, minimizing the time it spends outside refrigeration. From there, ONSSA says shoppers should use appropriate insulated bags for the trip home and transfer the meat straight into the fridge upon arrival, without delay.
Storage duration rounds out the guidance. According to ONSSA, fresh chicken should not be kept for more than three days, and only when stored in tightly sealed containers or bags. Beyond that window, the risk of contamination rises considerably, even when refrigeration has otherwise been handled correctly.
The advisory is part of a broader awareness campaign the agency regularly runs to steer Moroccan consumers toward safer food-handling practices. With public health vigilance remaining a national priority, the timing of this reminder is hardly incidental: for countless households where chicken is a weekly, if not daily, staple, small missteps in the kitchen can carry outsized consequences.
