TANZANIA Meat Board (TMB) has announced a countrywide operation targeting butcheries operating below standards in a bid to improve hygiene and protect meat consumers in the country.
According to TMB, the operation will start in Dar es Salaam this week and it will later be carried out to other regions across the country. The TMB operation follows its ultimatum given to butchery operators to improve hygiene and meat handling in their shops which expired on September 30 last year.
TMB Registrar Mr Imani Sichalwe told the ‘africa-press’ yesterday that the operation will involve penalising butchery operators who failed to abide to the given prerequisites such as use of proper meat cutting saws.
He said that some meat traders have continued using wooden chopping logs for cutting meat which he said is a serious source of meat contamination.
“We are going to conduct a serious operation this week in Dar es Salaam and we will proceed to other upcountry regions… we want to improve meat hygiene in order to protect consumers and promote meat business in the country,” Mr Sichalwe said.
He noted that the inspection exercise in Dar es Salaam will be carried out in collaboration with regional authorities. Mr Sichalwe noted that butcheries which will be found operating below standards will either be closed down or slapped with a fine of not less than 50,000/-.
He detailed that standard butchery must have equipment such as a digital weight scale, meat cutting saw, refrigerator for storing meat, a fan and its walls and the floor should be vanished with tiles.
People handling meat are also required to wear a white overcoat and must undergo health checkups, Mr Sichalwe added. Mid last year, TMB gave butchery operators until September 30 as a deadline for using wooden chopping logs for cutting meat. It said the use of wood log for cutting meat causes health hazards and a loss of meat per every kilogramme.
The porous surface on wood log can absorb or retain bacteria that can lead to meat contamination. TMB said apart from causing meat contamination, studies conducted have also showed that the use of wooden chopping blocks causes loss of one kilogramme of meat in every 100 kilogrammes.
Latest report by TMB indicated that there are 1, 040 butcheries which have been registered as per the law.
According to the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development Tanzania produces an average of 581,804.2 metric tonnes of meat per year whereby 96 per cent is consumed locally, whereby 95 per cent sold in ordinary markets and 4 per cent in special markets like mines, tourist hotels, supermarkets and 0.7 per cent is exported.
