THE Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) is appealing to citizens to ensure that the meats they purchase have been inspected and deemed fit for consumption, as some businesses would sacrifice the health of citizens in order to maximize profits. “The meat and food hygiene section is appealing to consumers to exercise caution when purchasing meats and foods.  Labels for expiry dates must be checked, especially when deals are offered on food items,” M&CC said in a press statement yesterday.   

During recent inspections, officers observed several contraventions, including absence of refuse receptacles, dirty premises, defective urinals, water closets and cupboards.
Meanwhile, during last May, 587 animals were slaughtered, 506 were bovine and 81 porcine.  Of the 587 animals slaughtered, 379 came from Berbice, 139 originated from Demerara and 69 came from Essequibo.
Furthermore, the section confiscated four entire carcasses, one forequarter, 30 pounds of beef and several organs, which were deemed unfit for human consumption.
The Meat and Food Inspectors inspected 27 retail spirit shops, 23 food restaurants, 19 provision shops, 18 food trays, 12 cold stores and seven provisional shops.
“The Meat and Food Hygiene Section of the Mayor and City Council continues to work assiduously to ensure that safe and wholesome food reaches citizens. To this end, rigid ante-mortem and post-mortem examinations are undertaken to achieve the principal objective of the section.
“The ante-mortem examination helps to prevent the slaughtering of diseased animals, whilst the post-mortem examination is done to identity disease which may not have been identified during the ante-mortem examination,” M&CC explained.