Residents urged to report unexamined meat shops

LOCAL residents should look for meat inspection certificates and stamps from slaughterhouses to ensure the meat they are buying is healthy and fit for human consumption, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said in a statement.

The mayor called on consumers to report pork outlets selling meat without meat inspection certificates with the City Veterinary Office for immediate confiscation and disposal amid an outbreak of African swine flu in Luzon.

Anamarie Cabel, who heads the Veterinary Office, said the city’s major markets and slaughterhouses have 24-hour checkpoints to ensure the safety of meat products being sold.

The Quezon City government has allotted P10 million in financial assistance for hog raisers who will voluntarily surrender their live pigs for culling.

Hog raisers who refuse to cooperate will face six months in jail for “handling or offering unsafe or banned food.” — Marc Wyxzel C. Dela Paz