Assembly Moves to Ensure only Healthy Animals Are Consumed in Plateau State

Two members of the Plateau State House of Assembly have moved a joint motion, calling on the Assembly to direct the Ministries of Agriculture, Livestock, Health and Information to carry out regular inspections to ensure that only healthy animals are slaughtered for human consumption across the state.

Hon. Nanbol Listick, member representing Langtang North central and Hon. Abdul Yanga, member representing Mangu North moved the motion during plenary on Wednesday at the old Government House, the temporary sitting venue of the Assembly in Jos.

Moving the motion on behalf of his colleague, Hon. Listick said meat inspection is a crucial process in checking the safety and quality of meat products consumed by the public. This involves the examination of animals and carcasses before and after slaughter to detect signs of diseases, contamination, or other health hazards.

He noted that key aspects of meat inspection include ante-mortem, post-mortem, microbial testing, residue testing, sanitation and hygiene, labelling and compliance etc.

“The primary goal of meat inspection is to protect public health by guaranteeing that meat products are safe, wholesome, correctly labeled and safe for consumption. As well as maintaining consumers’ confidence in meat products.

“In order to ensure meat products are safe for human consumption, Plateau State Government should rejig the responsible Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) by providing the necessary working tools, recruiting additional professionals like veterinarians, animal scientists and technicians, nutritionists, Medical Laboratory Scientists and Technicians, sociologists, media experts, to do the needful.

“These experts should make sure that animals are well treated, there are hygienic practices during slaughtering, maintaining a clean environment during meat processing, storage and transportation, adherence to local and international regulation, educating consumers on proper handling, cooking and storage of meat to prevent food borne illnesses.

“These professionals should also review and publish Plateau State meat inspection and hygiene regulations to cover provision for raw meat, meat preparation and manufactured meat from the time of live animal production up to the point of retail sale. We shall do meat inspection and hygiene legislation that will serve as a framework to ensure that meat and meat products are safe for human consumption.

He then charged his colleagues to call on the Plateau State Government to direct the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Livestock, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Information to equip inspectors to carry out their duties in curbing meat and meat products contamination in all the LGAs of Plateau State.

According to the motion, the call become imperative in order to reduce deaths caused by contaminated meat and meat products in the state. They also urged MDAs to orientate meat and meat product handlers on the importance of safety.