5 tons of 'double dead' pork seized in QC

Authorities seized five tons of "double dead" or contaminated meat early morning Tuesday at a major wet market in Quezon City. GMA News reported that members of the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS), the city health office, and the city police found the suspect meat during a joint inspection at the Balintawak Market in Quezon City. Food inspectors found that some meat came from pigs that had died before being slaughtered, noting that some pork were pale or discolored and were hairless. "This is the first time we have seen double dead meat this many. You can really see that the meat is already spoiled but they still sell it," an inspection officer told GMA News. Meat vendors reportedly fled the area. No arrests were made. "We were planning to file charges against the vendors but they were able to run away before we arrived here," said Fernando Lontoc of the NMIS Accreditation Enforcement unit. The "double dead" meat was set to be sold at 80 a kilo, almost half the regular price of pork. The report also said that vendors usually use lamps with red glows to conceal its spoiled state. The confiscated meat has already been brought to the NMIS office where it will be disposed by burning. Vendors of "double dead" meat face up to a year in prison and P10,000 in fines. Last Friday, law enforcers in Pasay City confiscated over 700 kilograms of "double dead" meat found to be infected with foot and mouth disease. The meat came from Sta. Maria town in Bulacan province, where hog cholera has been spreading in local pig farms. The agency has already placed the province under a "mild quarantine" and hoisted a "red alert" warning for hog cholera in six regions in Luzon including Metro Manila. - GMANews.TV