Meat Found on the Ground in a Booth at Gum Market; Sales Suspended

Meat was found lying on the ground in one of the booths at the Gum market. The sale of meat has been suspended. The State Service for Food Safety of the Republic of Armenia continues its regular monitoring activities in the meat market.

Today, officials from the inspection body conducted a tour in the meat sales booths at Gum Market, located on Khorenatsi Street in Yerevan. The goal was to ensure that the sale of meat and meat products is carried out only with the presence of veterinary accompanying documents, under sanitary and hygienic conditions, and that employees who handle meat wear appropriate clean clothing and possess sanitary books.

Noting the overall satisfactory situation, inspectors discovered severe violations of sanitary and hygiene conditions at a fresh meat sales point owned by individual entrepreneur Uso Kalashyan at 35 Khorenatsi Street, where newly received meat and meat products were placed directly on the ground in unsanitary conditions. The sale of meat and meat products has been suspended.

Monitoring activities at this booth will continue. Arthur Shatvoryan, advisor to the head of the FSAS, organized a consultation on-site with business operators engaged in meat sales. He conveyed the inspection body’s determination to adhere to the timelines for transitioning to slaughterhouse origin slaughter and urged them to take effective measures to procure meat of slaughterhouse origin, stating that the specialists of the overseeing structure are ready to provide the necessary professional advice and information.

Operators engaged in the sale of meat at Khorenatsi Street and Gum Market have committed to partially transition to the procurement and sale of slaughterhouse origin meat by December 1, 2019, and fully by January 15, 2020.