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Dead Chicken Carcasses Potentially Sold in Cooked Form
Sleman, Yogya - The Livestock Division of the Agriculture, Fishery, and Forestry Serivce Office suspects that dead chicken carcasses (not slaughtered) are still sold in Sleman, moreover during the Eid al-Fitr holidays.
But, finding the vendors is not easy. Officers confess they are facing difficulties because the dead chickens are no longer sold raw, but as processed products. “Now vendors no longer dare to sell dead chickens raw. This is because a lot of people can now identify dead chicken carcasses from fresh carcasses from socializations done by the office,” said Head of the Livestock Division, Sleman Suwandi Aziz yesterday.
Because of that, dead chicken vendors sought another way to sell their chicken, which is by processing or cooking the chickens, so people can’t identify it. Most likely the chickens are given turmeric (to make it look fresh) and fried.
But so far the office has yet to find such vendors. Also it is no longer their authority to take action, but the authority of the Trade Service Office. “Our authority is only as far as raw meat,” said Aziz.
As Aziz remembers, the last case of dead chicken carcasses sold in Sleman was 4 to 5 years ago. Since then, the office has never found it again in any inspection. This is because Sleman has functional officers that work directly in markets to oversee the sale of meat and carcasses.
Sleman has six functional officers in charge of animal product supervision whose duty is to go to markets and oversee the sale of meat and carcasses. Everyday they collect meat samples, both from chicken or beef, and check whether the meat is still suitable for consumption. One supervisor visits 4 to 5 markets in a week.
It is believed that the application of this measure will be able to suppress the presence of meat/carcasses unsuitable for consumption, such as dead chicken carcasses and gelonggongan meat (meat derived from cattle overfed with water). Particularly approaching Eid al-Fitr holidays, the office conducts inspections everyday, not only in markets, but also in animal slaughterhouses.
A crispy chicken vendor near Sleman market named Kentung said he is well aware of the issue of processed dead chickens. He said he has been in the business for 10 years and he guarantees that his chickens are not from dead chicken carcasses. “I have a supplier for the chickens I sell. Even so I always check the quality of the chickens I buy,” he said.
This measure was taken, he said, to prevent loss from customers losing trust in him. If he sells dead chickens, he will be left by his customers.
In order to detect raw dead chicken carcasses, Aziz advices the public to inspect before buying. The meat of dead chicken carcasses is paler compared to fresh carcasses, and it also smells putrid. Sometimes there are also spots of blood on the neck or head. Another indication to look out for is if the chicken is sold at a cheap price. (nis)
Source : Radar Yogya