Officials seized around 100 kilos of foul-smelling meat was seized from a butcher’s shop on Anna Nagar Main Road here on Sunday.
A team led by M. Jagadish Chandrabose, District Designated Officer, Food Safety Standards Act (FSSA), launched the drive after receiving complaints. The decomposed mutton was found stashed in a box filled with ice. The butcher said that the meat had been kept for a hotelier for three days. But the condition of the meat indicated that it should have been kept longer, Dr. Chandrabose said.
On hearing about the raid, a pork butcher running his business nearby, fled away from the spot. Almost all the butcheries on the road were sealed as per FSSA norms. Anybody consuming this sort of decomposed meat will suffer diarrhoea, kidney problem, and it might even prove fatal, he said.
The officials conducted checks in more than 10 meat shops at Anna Nagar and verified the seals certifying the health condition of animals ahead of slaughtering.
Later, the team visited Kurumbur on receiving complaints of open slaughtering of oxen and insanitation as offal, blood and wastes were strewn on Kurumbur main road. The officials instructed the butcher that animals must be slaughtered only at authorised places and he was warned of stringent action, if the problem recurred.
Dr. Chandrabose said that such raids would be conducted at frequent intervals and people could also lodge complaint about stale or decomposed food items with the FSSA office on 0461 2340699 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Food stalls had been instructed to either obtain licence or register with the FSSA before February 4. Action would be taken against those who do not comply with the regulations. Food Safety Officers T. Ramakrishnan and Chandramohan formed part of the raid team.
