Only buy inspected meat, St Lucians advised

People in St Lucia are being advised to buy meat at Christmas that has been inspected and passed by the Department of Environmental Health.

Monitoring of butchers is being beefed up, it added, as it works closely with health and agriculture ministries.

Senior Environmental Health Officer Ernie Pierre has called on butchers to register early with the department to ensure they meet the requirement before slaughtering animals.

“The process can entail getting some documents,” he said.

“One, they need to have a health certificate for the butchers and their helpers. That is a requirement by law to be able to handle and to vend meat to the public, they need to have health certificates.

“So we are asking them to come in and register with our office and to do that very early. There are a number of processes they need to observe. One, they need to go to the police to get a butchers license or permission to slaughter.

“Once they have this document the animal for slaughter will also have to receive an ante modem inspection. That ante mortem inspection will be done by the veterinary officers. That must be done at least 24 hours in advance of slaughter.”

The public has been warned to keep vigilant when purchasing meat during the festive period.