City tells consumers: Buy ‘legit’ meat only

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries told the public to look for meat inspection certification when purchasing meat to make sure that it has undergone proper processes before being sold.

Cebu City veterinarian, Dr. Jessica Maribojoc, said that for this year since January, the department has confiscated more than 3,000 kilos of pork that were not properly handled from Carbon Market.

“Ang pinaka the best gyud no na tan-awon sa atong nga consumers nga kana ba na karne legit ba jud sya or niagi ba jud sya og meat inspection, is look for meat inspection certificate,” said Maribojoc.

Just last September 16, 2023, around 85.20 kilos of pork carcass clandestinely slaughtered in Alcantara, Cebu were confiscated during the inspection in Carbon Post Abattoir.

This is after authorities have found out the absence of a meat inspection certificate that means that the confiscated pork didn’t undergo ante-mortem and post-mortem inspection.

Maribojoc said that the said pork was slaughtered outside Cebu City which should have been slaughtered in an accredited slaughterhouse.

Maribojoc amplified that the only categories of accredited slaughterhouses include Double A, Triple A, and Single A which means that they are accredited to sell outside the city and vice versa.

The usual slaughterhouses in Cebu City are categorized under the Locally Registered Meat Establishments (LRME) regulated by the DVMF.

“So katong siya, gikan man to syag Alcantara buot pasabot, LRME rana sya ang ilang ihawan. Dapat ang ilang ihawan within lang sa ilang locality na mabaligya. Same sad sa atoa na katong mga LRME nato sa Cebu City within Cebu City ra jud sya i-display, kung outside gani sya magbaligya,” said Maribojoc.

Maribojoc said the confiscated pork didn’t pass through them for reinspections. Apart from these, the other grounds of confiscation include improper handling of the meat.

“Naa sa Administrative Order No. 5 or Number 6 kay kung mag transport man gud ta og karne labi kung fresh sya, dapat naka-van sya labi na og outside Cebu City, so ang handling sa meat i-consider sad na nato,” said Maribojoc.

She added that this is among the instances that they are closely monitoring to ensure safety of the meat that is being produced in the city. — (FREEMAN)