Chicken sellers yet to adopt SOPs

LAHORE

Though the City District Government Lahore has formulated new SOPs for slaughtering chicken to ensure hygienic meat to the citizens, the chicken sellers are yet to implement and adopt the new slaughtering technique.

Some one month back, CDGL’s Food Department introduced a cone shaped vessel to be used for slaughtering chicken and directed all the chicken sellers to adopt this new technique. The department ensured placement of the new vessels for draining of chicken’s blood instead of putting it into the drum where the seller has already put chicken waste.

The SOPs included replacement of drums with steel vessels, covering of hair and hands of butchers and proper cleanliness of cages as well as of the outlet. In the first phase, the drum system is to be replaced with the new steel-made cone system. 

Presently, the chicken sellers are using drums in which they throw the chicken after slaughtering and leave it there for few minutes. The same drum is used to deposit chicken waste, including feathers, blood, intestinal system etc. 

Every time, this practice remains continue and the only single drum is being used all day for all the chickens, which becomes a hub of deadliest germs. The shopkeepers don’t even bother to use other drums or bins to keep the chicken’s waste while same condition of filth and smell could be witnessed in the chicken cages.

District Food Office gave the 30 days deadline to all the 4,000 chicken shops’ owners of the city to implement the new SOPs and directed them to remove the drums and place new steel made con system. As per the District Food Office statistics, more than 3,000 shops have installed the new steel made con system but majority of the chicken sellers are still using the drums despite having the new steel made con system. 

Another challenge faced by the District Food Office is to convince the illegal makeshift chicken shopkeepers which could be seen in almost every town and area of the city.

A senior officer, on condition of anonymity, told The News that whenever they go to any illegal makeshift chicken shop in any area of city and issue some notice and fine, the shopkeepers simply move their stall to another new place as they just have to move their one cage and makeshift table. 

When contacted, DO Food Ch Muhammad Ayub told The News that the above-mentioned task was quite complicated when it was assigned to him by Lahore DCO.

Ch Ayub said that majority of the chicken sellers had no proper shops and they were running their shops mostly on encroached places in the city.  Chicken sellers having proper shops and in proper markets like Sunday Bazaars are easy to handle as they adopt the SOPs soon after the first notice due to fear of sealing and fine but the illegal makeshift chicken stalls are the real challenge for them, he added. 

DO Food Ch Ayub said that despite all the complication almost 3,000 shops have the new steel made con system and they are also using the other health safety measures but it will take more time to implement it completely. 

He urged the citizens to join hands with food department and ask the chicken sellers that they will not buy the chicken if the shopkeeper does not give the chicken as per the new proper SOPs.  District Officer said the officers were imposing fine from Rs3,000 to Rs5,000 to the shopkeepers for not having the new con system and for using the old drum system and so far over 100 shops have been issued fine tickets.

On a query regarding chicken associations involvement, Ch Ayub said that associations had also been engaged in this regard and in the next phase the written SOPs with proper pictures would be placed at every chicken market.