The city police seized 200 kg of stale chicken from Karuvelippady in an operation carried out along with the Health and Food Safety Departments late on Saturday evening. Police said the chicken was over two months old.
Police arrested Majeed, 50, of Mattancherry, on charge of selling the meat. The stale chicken was found in two autorickshaws outside a cold storage at Karuvelippady. Police said the meat was to be taken to various hotels in Kochi. Police also found stale chicken inside the cold storage, which was licensed to keep only fish.
“The meat is regularly kept in cold storages for months together and sold to hotels in Ernakulam and other districts,” said a police officer. The stale chicken was sold in packets of 2 kg each. A packet was being sold for about Rs.140. Customers also bought smaller quantities as necessary, police said.
The Thoppumpady police have registered a case against Majeed, who was produced in court on Sunday. The Food Safety Department is also taking action against the cold storage owner, Ismail.
The seizure is the latest in a series of arrests made by the city police for storing and selling stale meat. Several kilos of stale chicken, beef, and duck have been seized by the police from different parts of the district. Officials said many hotels and bakeries regularly bought meat from these cold storages as it was cheaper than fresh meat. The quantity of seizures made has raised concern about the widespread use of stale meat in the city. A large amount of the meat food products sold in hotels and bakeries is considered unhealthy.
Experts said the only reason more people weren’t falling ill from consuming the uncertified meat was because of the style of cooking. “The Indian cooking system ensures that disease-causing agents in meat are killed off during preparation. The problem occurs when meat goes into value-added products such as puffs, samosas, and burgers that are not cooked well,” said a veterinary surgeon in the city.
No comments:
Post a Comment