Beware of bad meat for Christmas

JAMAICANS are being warned to exercise caution when purchasing animal meat this approaching Christmas season, as the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Agricultural Protection Branch (APB) reports an uptick in large-scale praedial larceny.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Oral Pascoe, in an interview with the Jamaica Observer on Sunday, warned that stolen livestock could find its way onto the market without undergoing the necessary public health inspections. He stressed the importance of consumers ensuring that any meat they purchase bears the requisite stamp certifying it as safe for consumption.

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“If somebody has the time to go on a farm and slaughter 10 to 15 [animals] in one night, and move the meat, all you’ll see is the intestines when you go on the site. This is what’s happening, and so we’ll try to put out the advisories against purchasing unstamped meat. So we want the consumers to continue their vigilance,” Pascoe said.