Sale of pork: War against filth continues

Pig farmers and butchers have been cleaning up their environment and workplaces to give a better image to their businesses.

Disinfecting slaughtering corners, pig styles and slabs regularly with caustic soda, inspecting carcases before sale and selling in clean environment is a must for avoiding any contamination. According to pig butchers and farmers in the Wouri Division, hygiene and sanitation are passwords for the pig sector that is increasingly attracting customers.

In times past, it was common to see makeshift pork slabs along the street, selling to naive customers who cared less about the hygienic conditions of the pork. Today, veterinary doctors do not only confiscate such carcases that are unfit for human consumption, but destroy them on the spot.

In all the subdivisions in Wouri, there exists legal slaughter corners where a veterinary team inspects the carcases before they are declared fit for consumption.

In the Douala II municipality where about 120 pigs are slaughtered daily, animal health staff ensure hygiene in the lone slaughter corner and that the animals are in good health. Pork dealers now practise thorough hygiene and sanitation following the crisis in the poultry sector that killed thousands of table birds in the Centre Region.

Roger Fogang, the Pig Butchers’ President in the Douala II Council Area, restated the importance of hygiene: “We carry out regular and compulsory cleaning of the market once a week. I also make sure that all pig butchers keep their surroundings and slabs clean and put on white jackets to give dignity to the profession,” Roger Fogang explained.

On the other hand, veterinary officers ensure that butchers acquire medical certificates,” he explained. At a recent meeting with over 400 pig dealers in Wouri, the Divisional Delegate for Livestock, Dr Guy Mimbang, cautioned them to avert epidemic outbreaks by being ready to compete with modern butchers in supermarkets.