Agriculture dept. to tighten food safety measures
Agriculture Secretary William Dar on Tuesday said they will implement stricter food safety measures after authorities seized P20 million worth of hot meat from China in Manila.
On Monday, the Manila Veterinary Inspection Board and the Manila Police District confiscated a total of 15,659.78 kilos of hot meat inside storage houses along Juan Luna Street. Among the confiscated meat were boxes of meat from duck, chicken, pork beef, lamb which were expired.
According to National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS), the illegally imported meat were from China.
“These meat all came from China and there was no approval to bring in any kind of meat from there. They did not go through proper inspection and quarantine in the ports. It’s very alarming because these food items are highly suspected of carrying diseases,” Domingo Gonzaga of the NMIS said.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Dar assured the public all seized meat products will be properly disposed.
"Those confiscated meat with no (food safety) permit and were from nation that are suffering from problem with suspected swine disease will be burned and buried," said Dar.
"We have heightened and elevated our quarantine and food safety measures," the agriculture secretary added.
In a follow-up report to Manila City Hall, the Crisis Management Team of the Department of Agriculture confirmed that the recovered hot meat will be discarded at a dumpsite in Rizal.
"The meat are on its way to the dumpsite in Rizal - that's where we will bury it. Disposal protocol will be followed and Region 4A incident command center will be the top of situation on disposal," NMIS OIC Executive Director Reildrin Morales said on Tuesday. Cristina Eloisa Baclig/DMS
