Beware of ‘hot meat’ during the holidays, Belmonte cautions

Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. has warned city residents to be extra cautious in buying meat products, especially during the holidays as he mobilized the police, market and veterinary personnel to go after traders selling illegally slaughtered animals in the city.

Police raided yesterday the Balintawak market and seized thousands of kilos of meat of suspected "double dead" animals.

Last week, a joint team from the Quezon City Veterinary Office, the National Meat Inspection Services and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, swooped down on Dantes, MC and Riverside markets, all in the Balintawak area, and seized some 3,000 kilos of suspected ‘hot meats.’

The Balintawak market has been the favorite dumping area of double dead animals from the nearby provinces and the outskirts of Metro Manila.

The raiding team found the hot meats packed in ice and hidden under makeshift stalls and the market’s comfort rooms.

The confiscated meats were brought to the police station for documentation and were turned over to the Marulas Manufacturing plant in Marulas, Valenzuela City, where they will be processed into animal feeds.