Toxic suya

REGARDLESS of the situation in the country, Nigerians are certainly entitled to their delicacies, including the roast meat called suya. They must therefore be shocked by the recent report by a national daily indicating that suya is now being made from already dead cows, which are not approved by the authorities for human consumption. To be sure, it is doubtful that consumers would buy suya knowing that it was made from already dead cows. But even if they would, the government definitely has a duty to prevent such a situation; it has a duty to save people even from themselves.

The fact is not disputed that dead meat is dangerous for human consumption. They can be vectors of diseases, including rabies, that may be easily transmitted to humans consuming dead meat. Dead animals can contain lead, harmful bacteria and parasites.  In February 2018, more than 50 people from Mpozo village outside Tsolo in the Eastern Cape of South Africa were rushed to hospital after eating meat from a cow that had died from snake bite. The patients reportedly experienced diarrhoea, vomiting, headaches and stomach cramps. Indeed, according to a public health physician at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Dr. Modupe Akinyinka,  cooking may not destroy the poison in dead animals.

Said the physician: “An animal may have a disease that makes it completely unfit for human consumption. So, if such an animal dies and someone goes to pick up the meat and eats it, such a person stands the risk of contracting the disease that killed the animal. Also, eating the meat of a dead animal is unhealthy because you are not even sure of what killed it. What if the animal ate something poisonous and died of it? If poison is in a dead animal and someone consumes the meat, the person will consume the poison as well. Poisons in dead animals can be transmitted to humans.”

Culturally, eating dead animals is strongly frowned on in Nigerian communities even if things have changed slightly in recent times.  Some years ago,  in the wake of the deadly bird flu that ravaged the country, causing many chickens to be destroyed, some incorrigible citizens reportedly defied the government’s order, citing pervasive poverty and hunger. However, eating already dead meat remains an unpopular practice among Nigerians. And beyond religious belief, there is the veritable question of the public health implications of such a practice. Experts have been keen to stress that when animals die, they no longer have any circulation maintaining tissues, muscles and organs, a factor which increases the chances for germs to increase without internal regulation, and thus become toxic.

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It is a no-brainer that eating meat not approved by the authorities for human consumption is patently dangerous. The brains behind this dirty business are apparently profiting from the lax regulatory climate in the country, undermining the unsuspecting public. And this definitely speaks to the lack of vigilance and effectiveness  on the part of the governmental institutions that have a mandate to oversee the processes of public sale of perishable consumer goods. It is also reported in this instance that dead goat meat is also garnished for sale to the public by those who want to exploit and make fast money without regard to the health and general wellbeing of the society.

The authorities must quickly apprehend this situation which could create health emergencies, and ensure that those engaging in such dastardly acts are exposed and punished appropriately. Public health officials, in particular, have a responsibility to make sure that all relevant rules and regulations guiding public consumption are followed and enforced at every time to save the public from the antics of spoilers who  make stupendous profit  feeding the society with toxic food.