By Anas Al-Yusuf

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH – Amid increasing concern among residents of Jeddah and its environs over meat being sold in shops and slaughterhouses and fears that the slaughtered animals might have been smuggled from Makkah during the recent Eid Al-Adha feast, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs has tightened its supervision and monitoring of the markets.

The objective is to ensure the safety of meat in the market via special and authentic seals that will enable the consumer to identify sacrificed animals from unknown sources.

In its endeavor to get rid of the current problems, the ministry is working on a project to provide ID barcodes to all animals since their birth in the Kingdom or from the moment they enter the country, in the case of imported animals.

Sources told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that this project will provide a new vision for a system to follow and recall slaughtered animals, as they will have ID barcodes containing all the information on the animal and the results of tests and diseases that have afflicted it.

The sources further said that the barcode will be linked with the animal even after slaughtering it. This will provide the possibility of recalling the carcass, determining where it has been distributed and the recipient.

The sources added that this system will facilitate health inspectors to verify if the animal has been slaughtered in a legal or illegal fashion.

Activating the system will necessitate linking it electronically with the Ministry of Agriculture.