‘Rotten, unlabelled’: Worry in Valley as authorities seize 12,000 kg meat in raids across Kashmir

“The main issue is that the meat that comes from outside is unlabelled. It doesn’t mention anything about the contents, the place of packing, the date of packing or even the price,” FDA Commissioner Smita Sethi told The Indian Express.

“Also, the cold supply chain is not being maintained, and as a result, there is microbiological development, and the meat deteriorates. The rotten meat is unfit for human consumption,” Sethi said.

She warned that when the “rotten meat”, sometimes sprayed with synthetic colours, makes it to the market, it is dangerous for human health.

J&K has the highest mutton consumption in the country. Official figures show that the Kashmir Valley consumes over 2 million sheep annually. The processed meat flooding the Valley markets now is in addition to that.

The biggest worry in the Valley is that nobody is aware of the source of meat, its contents or how it is slaughtered — whether it is halal.

Sethi said the FDA managed to catch hold of one supply chain and has confiscated 12,000 kg of “rotten and unlabelled meat” from the Valley as of Sunday evening. Over the last few days, the FDA has been raiding dumping sites and cold storage facilities to inspect the meat and unravel the network of suppliers.

The situation has led to several people in the Valley staying away from eating out.

“This meat mafia has been running unnoticed for many years now. It seems the administration didn’t pay any heed to it and to the public health crisis that could have unfolded,” said a Srinagar resident. “The government has done well by launching a drive, but it needs to act fast and decisively.”

Mohammad Shuaib, who owns a restaurant in Srinagar, said, “Over the last few days, sales have been hit. People are worried about the source of the meat and avoid going out for food.”

With religious scholars and clerics also chiming in on the issue, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday chaired a high-level meeting to review the FDA’s food safety enforcement campaign. The Chief Minister has called for exemplary punishment for the violators.

“The grave problem appears to have remained unchecked and unnoticed for too long. Unscrupulous elements have played with the health and lives of people. This has to stop and those deliberately involved in playing with public health must face the law,” Abdullah said. “There can be no compromise on public health and the drive will continue. There will be an audit of the concerned departments and the mechanism to stop import, sale and use of the unhygienic meat and other food items.”

During the review, Secretary Health and Medical Education Syed Abid Rashid unveiled the government’s 30-day action plan to control the import of rotten, unlabelled and unhygienic meat to Jammu and Kashmir. The plan includes mapping all food businesses and vendors, intensified inspection drives, community engagement initiatives, and the establishment of entry checkposts at Lakhanpur in Jammu and Qazigund in Kashmir.

J&K’s Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Satish Sharma, who was part of the Chief Minister’s review meeting, called it a serious issue and said the priority is to unravel the supply chain and give exemplary punishment to violators.

“Politics aside, this is a serious issue and we are in mission mode. All of us need to come together to fight against it. Our immediate priority is to stop this and see why it went unchecked for so long,” Sharma told The Indian Express. “We are intensifying the testing, building state-of-the-art testing labs at the district level and also increasing the number of mobile testing labs.”

He said that the meeting decided to be strict in its approach against violators, but at the same time, the public shouldn’t be harassed. Sharma said the enforcement would not only be about meat, but also vegetables and fruits. “There are 800 different chemicals used in fruits,” he said.

He argued that the crisis could be turned into an opportunity by local youths by venturing into these businesses and reducing the dependence on bringing these products from outside.