This is a rejoinder to the opinion article written by Valeriano Avila published December 29 on your newspaper’s online issue.
The National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) wishes to emphasize that the issuance of A.O. 22 does not discriminate frozen meat against “warm meat.” On the contrary, it is meant to protect the integrity and safety of frozen meat.
Mr. Jaime Escaño being a member of Meat Importers and Traders Association knows very well that meat in a frozen state undergoes alteration of its physical characteristics.
Repeated thawing and refreezing, which is what wet markets vendors do when they sell frozen meat, definitely affects its quality and compromises its safety.
Unlike warm meat carcass whose surface readily dries up under a normal tropical temperature, frozen meat will continue to be moist due to continuous extraction of crystallized meat juices.
Since temperature and moisture are two of the more important factors for bacterial multiplication, their control should be seen as a means of preservation and in the process greatly reduces the risk to consumers’ health.
The NMIS would like to reiterate further that since frozen meat comes from accredited meat plants and therefore have complied with the set standards on meat safety, it definitely is safe for human consumption.
It is only when it is mishandled and exposed to unclean and unstable environment does it becomes a risk to public health.
This is why the NMIS feels that it is necessary that regulations be put in place to ensure that frozen meat, when intended to be sold in wet markets, is handled in sanitary way and placed under ideal temperature that prevents bacterial multiplication especially the harmful bacteria that usually cause illness to humans.
Although NMIS’s most important function is to ensure the protection of human health by means of regulating the safety of meat for human consumption, it is not also neglecting its duty to create a favourable climate of investment for its other stakeholders particularly the meat importers.
Atty. Jane C. Bacayo
Executive Director
National Meat Inspection Service