Sale of unhygienic meat on rise, 500 kg of stale chicken seized in Kochi

KOCHI:  The health department of Kalamassery municipality on Thursday seized 500kg of stale chicken meat and 150kg of stale cooking oil from a house in Kaipadamugal within the civic body’s limits. As per the officials, several eateries in Kalamassery and other parts of the city used to procure meat from the house, which is owned by Junaise, a Malappuram native. The seizure comes even as the state grapples from a rise in incidents of food poisoning, which proved fatal in some cases.

Acting on a complaint from residents about foul smell emanating from the house, health officials from the municipality inspected the place. As per their findings, the rotten chicken meat, which was stored in freezers, had been bought from Tamil Nadu and was to be supplied to several eateries in the area.

“It is understood that several eateries received meat from here, particularly for preparing shawarma and al-faham,” said



Kalamassery municipality chairperson Seema Kannan. The officials said the house was storing meat without a proper licence.

“At the time of inspection, only five employees were present on the premises. There was no manager,” said an official of the municipality’s health wing. “The meat will be taken to the Brahmapuram plant and destroyed,” the official said, adding that strict action and hefty fines will be imposed on the building’s owner.

Seema said in the wake of the seizure, health officials of the municipality have been asked to conduct inspections in all eateries in the area. The Food Safety Department has collected samples from the seized meat and sent them for testing. Further action will be taken based on the results, said the department officials.

“Distributing stale food despite knowing that may cause death is cruel. We will ensure maximum punishment and legal action,” she said.