JEDDAH — Many customers and dealers believe that cases of fraud are increasing significantly in several kitchens. The fraud stems from customers being deceived in slaughtering services for either cooked or raw meat, while many practice the illegal act of mixing cheap frozen meat with fresh meat to cut costs.
The increase in fraudulent practices is on the rise with the simultaneous increase in demand, especially during Haj when the demand rises to more than 150 percent. And the absence of veterinarians in 95% of kitchens has led to these fraudulent practices that pose serious health risks.
Dr. Mohammed Al-Abdali, an associate professor at King Faisal University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, stressed the importance of having a veterinarian at the slaughterhouse being the first line of defense to prevent the spread of diseases and epidemics on human and animal levels, Al-Madina reported.
He pointed out that the most important procedure, conducted by the veterinarian, is to ensure the safety of the animal and that it is free of disease and fit for human consumption. Vaccines and drugs are injected into cattle, which may require more than 21 days to see the treatment effect or the cattle does not suffer from side effects.
A healthy environment inside the slaughterhouses, under the supervision of municipalities and qualified cadres, is a necessity for market needs.
An owner of a famous kitchen chain in Jeddah said that some of the owners practice multiple frauds to deceive customers including the selection of the animal, slaughtering it and then delivering it to the customer.
Even after the customer has made a selection, they end up receiving the meat of another animal. While some slaughter dead animals and present it to the consumer as being fresh.
He said some kitchen practice fraud in weighing the meat. The weight of the animal is reduced by adding the remnants of the animal to the meat and passed off as the correct weight.
An official spokesman for Jeddah Municipality Omar Al-Humaidan said from the 600 kitchens in Jeddah about 10 percent of violations occurs, including no licenses. He stressed that there’s a lack of licenses to offer slaughtering services. Slaughter inside the kitchen during the year is not allowed, with the exception of the 3 to 4 days during the Haj season to ease pressure on slaughterhouses and meet consumers’ demands.
