The Kozhikode Corporation has stepped up vigilance on bakeries and hotels in the city to check the use of stale meat in food items. The move comes after the seizure of 200 kg of stale chicken brought to Kozhikode from Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station through the Mangala Lakshadweep Express on Thursday. Detailed inquiries proved that the package was meant to be delivered to a frozen foods trader based in Manjeri.
Corporation Health Officer R.S. Gopakumar said stale meat was usually supplied to large-scale manufacturers of fried snacks such as samosa, puffs, cutlets, chicken rolls and fast food such as shawarma. “The stale meat absorbs the flavour of the spices better and increases the taste of the snacks. Hence some hotels use it for shawarma. On the other hand, the low prices of the meat tempt large scale manufacturers to purchase it,” he said.
The Manjeri-based trader is already under the scanner of the Corporation health wing after 200 kg of stale meat supplied by the firm was seized from some shops in the city last year. “There are several others, including some from Kasaragod, who supply stale meat in Kozhikode. Hence we are stepping up vigilance,” said Dr. Gopakumar.
Assistant Commissioner of Food Safety P.K. Aleyamma said the meat seized from the train was packed in polythene bags, immersed in thermocol containers and then covered in a jute sack. There were 10 such boxes altogether, without any label or address on them. The identity of the buyer was traced from the number of the vehicle that arrived to pick up the luggage at the railway station.
Haryana farms
“Meat is available at very cheap rates or even free of cost at large-scale chicken farms in Haryana. It is probably rejected meat of chicken dying of some kind of disease. It is purely unfit for human consumption,” said Dr. Gopakumar.
The samples of the meat seized have been sent to the Regional Analytical Laboratory to ascertain its quality. The Corporation would take further action based on the report, he added.
