Suspicious Meat Sampled from Sales Point on Khorenatsi Street

The State Service for Food Safety of Armenia has initiated a constant epidemiological monitoring in meat sales points located on Khorenatsi Street in Yerevan, particularly near the GUM market. This action complements ongoing surveillance of the meat markets across the regions of the republic to ensure monitoring of the origin of received meat and the conditions of its transportation, as well as verifying the sanitary-hygienic conditions of the meat stalls.

Georgi Avetisyan, the head of the Service, visited the meat sales points on Khorenatsi Street today, urging operators to comply with all veterinary-sanitary safety and hygiene requirements for meat and by-products marketing. He emphasized the importance of ensuring that the meat procured comes from slaughterhouses.

“We are ready to provide necessary professional advice and information so that operators can transition to slaughterhouse meat sales within the established timeframes. We also aim to ensure our citizens have access to meat that is kept under refrigeration, has the required veterinary-sanitary documents, and is sold in adequate sanitary-hygienic conditions,” Avetisyan stated.

Since September 16, specialists from the Service have been checking the veterinary documents accompanying the meat being delivered to the markets early in the morning. There were instances where the documents issued by the attending veterinarian did not match the actual meat.

In all cases where the meat was deemed suspicious, samples (67 in total) were taken and sent for veterinary-sanitary examination at a mobile laboratory located on Khorenatsi Street. Four incidents were recorded where the sampled meat was found unfit for consumption, and those batches were subsequently destroyed. There were also cases where the meat was transported using vehicles unsuited for meat transportation, which did not meet sanitary-hygienic requirements. This meat was also subjected to veterinary-sanitary laboratory examinations.

Periodic inspections of the meat market will continue, and operators are once again reminded that meat and by-products must only be obtained and sold in the presence of accompanying veterinary documents, under hygienic conditions. Sales points must be equipped with natural and artificial ventilation, and appropriate conditions for cleaning and disinfecting working tools and equipment must be ensured. Measuring and testing devices, refrigeration units, and adherence to personal hygiene rules by all personnel handling the meat are mandatory, along with each employee having a valid sanitary book at the sales points.

Furthermore, it is important to recall that Armenian legislation mandates the mandatory requirement for slaughterhouse slaughter norms, and as of January 15, 2020, the slaughterhouse origin of fresh meat will be compulsory for all operators in the food supply chain.