Most pork in Kampala is unsafe - health experts

Kampala

Majority of pork supplied in Kampala for human consumption is contaminated, the Kampala Capital City Authority public health department has warned.

Dr Emilia Ahimbisibwe, the KCCA senior veterinary officer, said the pork sold in the city is increasingly becoming risky for human consumption, citing the reported unhygienic nature in which meat is being slaughtered, transported and prepared.

“A big percentage of pigs slaughtered in Kampala are not cleared for human consumption,” Dr Ahimbisibwe told journalists in Kampala yesterday. He warned that loyal pork consumers face the danger of contracting epilepsy or running mad among other related ailments. “The city is littered with illegal pork abattoirs in various suburbs including Nsambya- Kamwanyi Zone, Kinawatakka and Wambizzi in Lubaga Division,” he said.

Dr Ahimbisibwe said pork contains tape worms which cause epilepsy when consumed without excellent preparation and warned consumers against feasting on meat which is not thoroughly cooked.

“We are drafting new laws to guide butchery attendants and animal transportation to end this food insecurity in the city,” he said. Pork is a delicacy enjoyed by a vast number of people who purchase the meat at different pork joints around the city.

In 2008, a government health team raided and closed five popular pork joints in Kampala’s suburbs, arresting 14 owners in the melee.

The team of 20 officials who included policemen, city authority law enforcement personnel and inspectors from the Ministry of Agriculture raided pork joints in Nsambya, Makindye and Luzira. A dozen pigs were carried away and more than 200 kilogrammes of fresh pork impounded.

Meanwhile, as many as 800 cows are slaughtered every day in Kampala and unlike pork, beef is usually contaminated at the different abattoirs due to poor hygiene.

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