Izzedin Ahmad Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Residents of Makkah and Jeddah have stopped eating red meat after Haj fearing sacrificial meat that has gone off could end up on their dining tables. They have turned to chicken and fish instead, pushing sales up by 100 percent. According to sources working in the production of poultry, chicken sales in Makkah and neighboring cities of Jeddah and Taif rose in the past few days due to a fear of bad sacrificial meat ending up in restaurants and butcheries. The sources pointed out that despite the rise in chicken sales, prices have remained at the same level because of abundant supplies. This is an annual phenomenon known to chicken producers and importers and they take advantage of this after every Haj season by making available large quantities of chicken. Nashwa Taher, chairwoman of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry's (JCCI) commercial committee and Director General of Radhwa Poultry Farms, said many Makkah, Jeddah and Taif residents avoid eating red meat at the end of every Haj season. She said they do this to avoid eating rotten sacrificial meat, which is sometimes used by restaurants and butchers because it is cheap. She said the increase in demand for chicken reaches its peak — sometimes by more than 100 percent — in Makkah, Jeddah and Taif immediately after Haj. She said reports of security officers intercepting a few days ago a consignment of rotten meat from 700 heads of slaughtered sheep that was on its way to restaurants and butcheries in Taif increased these fears. Despite precautionary measures taken by the city mayoralties in cooperation with the Traffic Department and Environmental Health Department to prevent such meat reaching these cities, some traders resort to smuggling in one or two carcasses in bags. They use other means such as private cars as well so that they are not discovered. Sources in the Environmental Health Department in the Jeddah mayoralty said inspectors carry out surprise visits to shops, restaurants and butcheries to check the quality of their meat. They also demand these businesses present to them purchase invoices. She said if the source of the meat cannot be determined and its purchase invoices are not available, inspectors confiscate the meat and the traders are investigated and penalized.
