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Products from two chicken farms - shut down partly over health concerns - were supplied to more than 150 businesses, including dairies and bakers.
The Golden Harvest Poultry sites on Auckland's southern outskirts were blitzed in a multi-agency swoop involving police and food safety officials this month.
They
allege they found dead hens in tiny cages alongside emaciated live birds, and conveyor belts laden with droppings. Owner Geraldus Francis Van Den Bogaart is likely to face criminal charges.
New Zealand Food Safety Authority spokesman Justin Rowlands said Van Den Bogaart supplied eggs and chicken to at least 150 Auckland businesses, but would not provide company names.
An internet business profile said his clients included bakers, dairies, caterers and grocers.
Rowlands said the public were entitled to expect food they bought was safe to eat. "I don't think that could be said about some of the poultry coming from this facility. In my opinion, it's filthy."
Campylobacter and salmonella are often linked with chicken. There is a low risk of catching the stomach bugs if the meat is cleaned, cooked and chilled correctly, but germs causing intestinal infections can be transferred between eggs when they are in a dirty environment.
Rowlands said poultry products were high turnover and most Golden Harvest stock should be off shop shelves. But he asked traders to be vigilant and dispose of any items they found.
Van Den Bogaart was unavailable to comment but his mother, who said her name was Anne, described the raid as "unfair".
Rowlands said Van Den Bogaart was first warned about non-compliance last year when authorities learned his farms had no risk management licence, a document guaranteeing hygiene obtainable through the Food Safety Authority.
He said the authority raided the farms, in Papakura and Pukekohe, after attempts to remedy the situation failed. Two people were arrested for violence against police.
Rowlands said officers found dead hens alongside live birds earmarked for human consumption. Filthy cages just 40cm in width and height contained up to five birds.
Rowlands said officers had to kill more than 5600 birds, relocate another 5000 and destroy about 137,000 eggs. He said there were about 45cm of droppings under some cages and the sheds were in disrepair and draughty.
When the Herald on Sunday visited the farm at Logan Rd, Pukekohe, on Thursday, officers wearing masks, gloves and protective clothing were transferring wheelbarrows full of dead birds into trucks.
Newly laid eggs were piled against a fence waiting to be destroyed and conveyor belts sagged with bird droppings.
Rowlands said Van Den Bogaart was "pretty resigned to the fact his business is over".
He is likely to face charges under the Animal Products Act for operating a poultry slaughter and processing plant illegally without a risk management programme and license.
Further charges may be laid under the Animal Welfare Act. The business that supplied the chicks to the farm may also be prosecuted.
"What we've done here is take pretty drastic action," said Rowlands. "[But] it's a high turnover product and you have to balance the risk against the amount of product out there."
Van Den Bogaart has been a target of animal activists but Rowlands said he could reopen his chicken farms if he obtained a licence.
His mother said the family had kept 99 chickens, just under the 100-bird threshold that allowed them to sell eggs at the gate.
Rowlands said more serious legal action, including the threat of prison, could result if Van Den Bogaart was found to be operating again without permission. He warned that any animal rearer who failed to comply with regulations faced "very serious consequences".