Essential warning for Eid al-Adha: Do not immediately freeze meat

Kastamonu Chamber of Veterinarians has warned of the approaching Eid al-Adha. Maşalacı, who gave advice on the choice of sacrifice, slaughter and storage of the meat of the sacrifice, drew attention to the fact that the meat should not be stuffed immediately.

Highlighting the hygiene measures, Maşalacı said, “Although the exact number of animals slaughtered is not known, approximately 1 million 300 thousand cattle and 2 million 500 thousand small livestock are transported and slaughtered. This amount corresponds to 25-30 percent of the annual amount of slaughtered animals in our country. Transporting and slaughtering such a large number of animals in a short period of time poses major problems in terms of human health, animal health and the environment if the necessary precautions are not taken and the necessary infrastructure is not put in place. In this regard, important duties fall on those who sacrifice themselves,” he said.

“61 percent of human diseases are of animal origin”

Maşalacı pointed out that 61 percent of human diseases are of animal origin and said, “In addition, 90 percent of the risk of food to human health is caused by food of animal origin. For this reason, it is important that the slaughtered animal is healthy and that it is examined by a veterinarian to reduce or eliminate these dangers that can come from animals and animal products. Animals bred, shipped, offered for sale and slaughtered outside the control of veterinarians increase the risk of infectious and epidemic animal diseases, and the meat obtained from these animals poses a significant risk to human health. Most sales of sacrificial animals take place at animal markets or sacrificial sites. Effective veterinary inspections in these places will significantly eliminate animal and public health risks. These are overseen by municipalities. However; Municipalities do not employ enough veterinarians to meet this need. As a result, the desired level of control and supervision cannot be achieved. Municipalities must employ enough veterinarians to fulfill their essential tasks.

Maşalacı stated that sanitary conditions should be ensured in the slaughter room and said: “The slaughter room should be clean and there should be running water. The butcher must be healthy and clean. If there is a cut or wound on his hand, he should use hygienic gloves. Knives should be cleaned regularly. Knives that become contaminated while cutting diseased tissues and organs must be disinfected. No torture is allowed while the animal is held, laid or hung. The cutting should be done by suspending if possible. The entrails should be removed as soon as possible after swimming. The pharynx should be emptied, the gastrointestinal tract, gall and urinary bladder, and reproductive organs removed, and the breasts removed from the carcass. During slaughter, contamination of the area by substances such as blood and intestinal contents must be avoided. Offal to be consumed must be disposed of cleanly. Sacrificial waste should not be thrown into garbage barrels and random environments and should not be discharged into sewage channels. In terms of environmental hygiene and public health, such waste should be buried in deep pits in a way that stray animals cannot reach.

“Don’t immediately throw the slaughtered meat in the cupboard, let it rest for 5-6 hours in a cool place”

Maşalacı said that the slaughtered meat should not immediately be thrown in the cupboard: “Meat and meat products are an extremely suitable environment for bacteria to multiply. Under favorable conditions, a bacterium can reach 16 billion in 12 hours. This gives an idea of ​​how a meat with a light bacterial load can become a major hazard to human health after one night if not properly preserved. Sacrificial meat should be put into pieces in clean containers and first placed in a cool place out of the sun for 5-6 hours, after which the temperature of the meat should be lowered and placed in the refrigerator. If the sacrificial meat is placed in a bag or in large pieces on top of each other while it is still at the cutting temperature, the refrigerator temperature will not be sufficient to cool the inside of the meat. For this reason, the parts of the meat that are not ventilated deteriorate in a very short time, rot and even turn green. Such parts should never be consumed, they should be thrown away. Although the shelf life of the sacrificial meat varies depending on the quality of the piece of meat and the size of the piece of meat, it is 5 or 6 days under normal refrigerator conditions. This period is usually 3 days for ground beef. If longer storage is considered, the meat should be kept in the freezer at 18 degrees below zero.

“Victim skins must be preserved and entrails must be collected”

Maşalacı, who wants the skin and guts of the victim to be preserved, said: “Although we import leather and guts by paying a significant amount of foreign currency as a country, significant economic losses are incurred due to not being able to fully utilize of such by-products due to the fact that the sacrificial skins are not properly preserved and the intestines are not collected, for this reason the skin and intestines must be properly preserved by salting them until the retrieval teams arrive.