Kerala - Kochi   

How hygienic is meat sold in city?

FOR THE TABLE:A chicken being weighed at a meat outlet in the city.

KOCHI: Unauthorised slaughter of animals is rampant in many parts of the city, posing a serious threat to public health. At present, there is no mechanism in the city to ensure that the meat supplied to consumers is free of any disease and is of consumable quality, admit civic authorities.

As per the rule, a veterinary surgeon has to inspect the animals before slaughter and the meat after the slaughtering. The meat thus certified should be made available for sale. However, the post of veterinary surgeon has been lying vacant for the past few years and it's a free for all situation that is prevailing in the meat trade. The source of meat, including poultry and cattle, is unknown to the civic administrators.

According to N. Venugopal, senior Congress councillor, Illegal slaughtering has been going on in the markets at Polakandam, Thoppumpady, Palluruthy, Pattalam, Mattanchery, Koovapadam and Pachalam for years. The slaughter house at West Kochi was closed down some years ago, he said.

Illegal slaughter goes up during the festival seasons and weekends considering the increase in demand for meat. Though the issue was repeatedly brought to the notice of the civic administrators, nothing has happened in this direction, he said.

There is no system to check the source of cattle and poultry that are slaughtered for meat. The consumers of the city are facing a risk as there is no mechanism to ensure that the meat comes from disease-free cattle. No one knows whether it is a dead or infected animal that was slaughtered and sold as meat in the city markets, Mr. Venugopal said. The job of inspecting the animals that are brought to the Kaloor slaughter house, the only one in the city, is left to untrained health officials in the absence of a veterinary surgeon, said a former Health official of the Kochi Corporation.

T.K. Ashraf, chairman of the Health Standing Committee of the Kochi Corporation, admitted that the present system was insufficient to meet the mandatory requirements regarding meat sales in the city.

Unauthorised slaughtering of animals was taking place in some places in West Kochi as the abattoir in the area was closed a few years ago, he conceded.

At the same time, Mr. Ashraf said that steps were being taken for ensuring the quality of meat sold. The civic administration has moved files for posting a veterinary surgeon on deputation and the early construction of the abattoir in West Kochi, he said.

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