Did the poultry discovered to have salmonella by Czech veterinary authorities in March 2024 come from Ukraine? No, that's not true: The case referred to in the video on TikTok is about chicken meat that came from a Czech farm. CNN Prima News, whose social media post was used in the video on TikTok, states the details in the article on its website.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok on March 13, 2024. It features a headline from a CNN Prima News social media post that says (translated from Czech to English by Lead Stories staff), "Salmonella found in frozen chicken parts. 1.5 tons of them arrived to the stores." The voice over the video says (as translated):
Oh, yeah, chicks from Ukraine. That's yummy for the Czech mob. Eat this meat so that you get salmonella.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Wed Mar 20 11:20:44 2024 UTC)
The CNN Prima News Facebook post shown above, which is no longer available but is archived here, links to an article from the CNN Prima News website on March 13, 2024, about the State Veterinary Administration finding salmonella in frozen poultry parts (archived here). The headline of the article also states that the company that produced the meat belongs to one of the organizers of the farmers' protests against the government in Prague in the early months of 2024. The article itself cites the state authorities about the case. Another article from Czech media about the salmonella (archived here) identifies the producer as RABBIT Trhovy Stepanov, a Czech-based producer.
The State Veterinary Administration said in a press release on its website on March 13, 2024, that it had ordered the withdrawal from sale of frozen chicken parts and offal containing salmonella from the producer RABBIT Trhovy Stepanov a.s. (archived here). Several products totaling more than 1,500 kilograms (3,307 pounds) came from the problematic batch. However, the vast majority of these products have been withdrawn from sale and only about 100 kilograms (220 pounds) reached the end consumer, according to the statement.
The article on the CNN Prima News site also contained a statement from the owner of the company, Zdenek Jandejsek, saying that the company took all the precautions to catch the disease and that "no disease was declared on the health certificate accompanying the live chickens, nor were there any signs of salmonella on the swabs taken at slaughter on the day this batch was slaughtered." Jandejsek also apologized to customers and said they would be refunded for the goods, the article said.
Anti-government trolls spreading Russian propaganda after Russia's invasion of Ukraine have focused on doubting the quality or pointing out the possible contamination of exports of Ukrainian grain or poultry to Czechia. The Czech Ministry of Agriculture issued a statement (archived here) in April 2023 debunking the most common disinformation related to the import of Ukrainian agricultural products. The statement said the imports undergo "transparent" and "intensive" checks from authorities. In the past, the ministry also found salmonella in meat that came from Ukraine or other countries like Brazil (archived here).
Jandejsek is one of the leading organizers of the farmers' protest against the government that took place in Prague in February and March 2024. In the past, he has been linked to politicians from various parties, including the PRO party, a far-right party led by Jiri Reichl that opposes aid to Ukraine, according to iRozhlas, the news website of Czech state radio (archived here). Jandejsek has also expressed skepticism about the globalism presented by Davos elites and the functioning of a democratic system (archived here).
