From Farm to Fork
Over the past week, authorities in Kashmir, particularly in Srinagar city, have seized and destroyed nearly 35 quintals of meat, dressed chicken, and processed meat products. The news has sent a ripple of panic through households and marketplaces alike, and rightly so . If such a staggering quantity of rotten meat was intercepted, one shudders to think how much more may have quietly slipped into our kitchens and onto our plates. The scale of the potential public health disaster is not just alarming, it is immeasurable.
Kashmir has one of the highest per capita meat consumption rates in India, primarily due to cultural preference and climate. Mutton and poultry are largely imported from outside J&K. According to official data a staggering 90 percent of restaurants are reportedly using dressed chicken. Restaurants prefer these imports for ease of cooking and convenience. Kashmir serves the choicest selection of non-vegetarian food in multiple flavours, the most celebrated being the traditional form of cooking known as Wazwan. World-renowned, the Wazwan attracts both national and international tourists. In recent years, many new entrepreneurs have shown interest in restaurants, meat processing, and value addition of meat products, seeing it as a growing business opportunity.
The recent seizure of rotten and substandard meat across the Valley is more than just a headline. It is a jolt to our collective conscience. It exposes not only a looming threat to public health, but also the cracks in what could have been a multi-million-dollar meat industry rooted in Kashmir’s unique culinary culture. This may well be just the tip of the iceberg, yet it has already shaken consumer trust to the core. To let this slide would be to watch a prized Kashmiri trade and tradition sink at the hands of a few vested interests. The rot needs to be traced back to its roots, and a clear, uncompromising strategy drawn, before this industry and the trust it rests upon is lost for good.
It must begin at the very source, the production stage. Local farms should not be left to run on habit and hope, but brought under regular inspection by veterinarians of the Animal and Sheep Husbandry Department, checking animal health, feed quality, and disease surveillance. We already have designated check-posts at Lakhanpur and Lower Munda where ante-mortem examination of imported livestock is carried out but what they need is a modern-scale upgrade, proper quarantine yards with feed and water, on-site rapid testing labs capable of detecting major zoonotic diseases before they cross into our markets, and integrated cold-chain monitoring for imported dressed meat.
Now coming to the slaughter houses and butcher shops, Kashmir does have designated slaughter houses like at Zakura, Soura and in other districts under municipal councils. But most of them lack the modern facilities and they don’t comprise a fraction of daily demand. Most of the meat comes from private unregulated slaughter points like butcher shops and backyards. It’s mostly at these unorganized slaughter points that compromised quality meat enters the chain. Without any antemortem check, such places become the gateway for substandard and unsafe meat finding its way into our markets and, ultimately, our kitchens. Restaurants’ supply chains must be inspected regularly, with special focus on dressed and processed meat. Installation of CCTV cameras in restaurant kitchens should be made mandatory, and their footage regularly reviewed by the Food Safety Department.
In 2022, the J&K Government took a positive step by designating one Veterinary Officer in each district as Food Safety Officer for meat and poultry inspection. But this arrangement is not enough, a Veterinary Officer should be deployed full-time with the Food Safety Department, tasked with daily inspections of butcher shops, meat outlets, poultry stalls, and conducting proper antemortem examination of animals before slaughter.
From farms to slaughter points, from wholesale markets to restaurant kitchens, every link in the chain is important and must be monitored. Safe meat is a fundamental right, and it requires more than occasional raids. Stringent enforcement of existing food safety rules, along with the implementation of the above measures, is essential to ensure that only safe, wholesome meat reaches the people.
