The Himalayan monal (Danphe) is the national bird of Nepal. But many believe the honor should go to the ubiquitous chicken. Nepalis are voracious consumers of chicken. No restaurant visit is complete without a plate of chicken momo, which, the tiny section of vegetarians permitting, may very well be our national dish. Such delicacies as chicken chilly and chicken drumstick are widely popular, too. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, we gobbled up 4.69 million kg of chicken in 2014. But consumption of chicken still pales in comparison to our consumption of buff products (173.12 million kg in the same period) and mutton products (59.05 million kg). According to the ministry, the meat industry continues to grow, which should surprisingly be a cause for concern for meat-loving Nepalis. Even as our appetite for meat products of all kinds (including the cut and dried packaged meat now sold in supermarkets) increases, so do our chances of catching serious illness. Most of the butcheries in Nepal slaughter animals out in the open, mostly by dirty rivers whose waters are then used to rinse the meat. That is not all. Many slaughter-houses have been found to sell the meat of long-dead animals.On June 20th, a police raid at a 'cold store' in Banasthali, Kathmandu, unearthed 200 dead chicken ready for sale. Then, on July 13th, a second raid at another cold store at the same place resulted in a haul of 79 dead chicken. So should we be reassured that the sellers of substandard meat are finally being punished? Unfortunately, things are not so straightforward. In both these cases, the police acted only after being tipped-off by locals. Such tip-offs are rare. Nor is the police the right agency for the purpose. The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) is the agency responsible for oversight of meat shops and slaughter-houses in the metropolis. Incredibly, KMC officials readily admit that only "five or six" meat shops in Kathmandu have registered with it. In other words, most meat shops in Kathmandu are not even qualified to sell meat. Such blatant neglect of this public health issue is alarming. But that's not for want of laws.
Responding to widespread public concern about the quality of meat in the market, the Animal Slaughterhouse and Meat Inspection Act was formulated in 1999. Among other things, it provides for mandatory inspection of animals before slaughter. Only when they are found healthy can they be killed for sale. Likewise, the raw meat must then be inspected and approved by meat inspectors. But most meat items available in Nepali markets have not been inspected at any stage of the supply chain. Thus Nepalis are at heightened risk of contracting zoonotic diseases like typhoid, trichinellosis and taeniasis. There are many reasons for this neglect, but the biggest is undoubtedly lack of awareness among meat consumers. Unless Nepali consumers start asking for meat products that have been certified as safe by an accredited agency, they will, most likely, continue to take home tainted meat that could pose a serious risk to the health of their families. Since most Nepalis won't be persuaded to turn into abstemious vegetarians overnight, they should at least take the trouble of inquiring if the meat they are buying is fit for human consumption.
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