Chief Veterinary Officer Dr. Reginald Thomas has stated that his department will remain stringent in enforcing the regulations concerning the importation of meat kinds, in the interest of animal health, public health and food safety.
Thomas said that importation of frozen and canned meat products is governed by the Animal Diseased Act, which states that permission is needed for the importation of these products, and these permits can be applied for at the Division of Agriculture.
“This is done to protect Dominica both from an animal health point of view and from a public health point of view, because if a product comes in contaminated with some agent, it affects all of us that may consume that product. So this is the main reason why we try to be as stringent as possible,” Thomas said.
According to Thomas, new measures have been put in place to separate commercial import from import in smaller quantities of 30 lbs or less. He also mentioned that there are specific requirements for these products based on the location they are coming from because of the disease status of certain regions, based on the quantity and based on the type of product, as different products support the proliferation of certain agents differently.
He concludes, “It’s a constant battle but at the end of the day we have a bigger responsibility, which is protection of this country, the country that we call the Nature Isle, and the only reason it remains like that is because of some of the measures that we have taken.”
Information on importation of goods of this kind is available from the Livestock Development Unit of the Division of Agriculture at the Botanical Gardens.
Some times these laws on importation of meats are to the advantage of those who inpect at the port of entry
Thomas, I understand your logic, nonetheless, I would like to know when meats are imported in a sealed-can,into our country, how do you “doctor” determine that the process product inside is safe to eat, and free from Animal disease?
What is your method, of testing for contaminants such as Escbericbia coli and the host of families of bacteriophages, that may well be sealed into a can of Corn beef, or a can of sardine.
How do you determine that an eleven pound container of sealed Ham is not unfit for human consumption? How often do you test and analyze the raw meat imported into the country, thus, ensuring that it is safe for human consumption.
That should be your concern, the issuing of a license to import is essential, as it is part of the process of generating revenue, however, it is not even secondary where it pertains to the health of the people who buys the imported products in question.
When you issue an license for someone to import from a particular, country, how do you guaranty that the facility where the product is processed is maintained,in a sanitary conditions, and protocol are followed that will ensure that the products imported into Dominica is safe for human consumption?
I will answer that for you: since we do not have an agricultural inspector trained in that field, stationed wherever, these imported meats are processed, to put our stamp on the meats, that they were processes, and stored under conditions that does not allow contaminants to set in; you have no guaranty that the product that you have issued an permit to import is safe for our people to eat!
I am sure if you were to visit a chicken processing plant here in America, and if you saw the condition of some of the chickens before they are slaughtered, you may not want to eat chicken products for the rest of your life.
Rather than you concentrating on the meat products, you should not be issuing permits to grocery store owners allowing them to import agricultural products such as lettuce, and carrots into the country, thus depriving our local farmers from selling their vegetables in our local market.
That’s what you should me concentrating on, and not this other baloney you are talking about!
Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
True and well said.
However I would like to query who is checking how meat is stored and labelled once it reaches this country and our ‘supermarkets’. On many occasions I have brought ‘fresh’ meat only to find it unusable the next day, even with proper refrigeration.
If I may, I would like to help my good friend, the good Doctor Thomas in answering some of your questions.
Once any product is canned, it undergoes thermal processing which reduces the D10 by 90% until that product is opened or the seam of the seals are broken.
F.MPN – Completed test for E. coli.
To perform the Completed test for E. coli, gently agitate each gassing EC tube and streak for isolation, a loopful to a L-EMB agar plate and incubate for 18-24 h at 35°C. Examine plates for suspicious E. coli colonies, i.e., dark centered and flat, with or without metallic sheen. Transfer up to 5 suspicious colonies from each L-EMB plate to PCA slants incubate for 18-24 h at 35°C and use for further testing. These test are being done at the produce chemist Laboratory in the Botanical Gardens and it doesn’t not matter if it is one can of sardine or five containers, once there is a sample, the test can be done and the bacteria is called Escherichia coli.
All processed foods, especially from the first world countries have several USDA and FDA or ISO regulations to pass and hence cannot end up on the shelves for consumers without these regulations…… Why don’t you ask the supermarket owners these questions when you buy food from wall – mart/ path- mart, etc and other groceries supermarket in the US? I will tell you why – it is because you believe that their standards are sufficient enough and you can trust in their test and processes but your ignorance blind you to believe that we do not have trained inspectors to do the same here in DA.
Some of us just like to sound smart and ask questions to look intelligent. Why don’t you help aid the Division of Agriculture and help fund a microbiology laboratory to check for Food Borne Illnesses and to train the staff on how to further apprehend the rapid tests that are available or send down the supplies to our labs at the Gardens. We would greatly appreciate them.
Would you prefer if no license were issued at all? You believe that you know how to do the Dr. Job better than him, hence telling him that he is talking bologna.
“If I may, I would like to help my good friend, the good Doctor Thomas in answering some of your questions.
Once any product is canned, it undergoes thermal processing which reduces the D10 by 90% until that product is opened or the seam of the seals are broken.
F.MPN – Completed test for E. coli.” (Fire).
Okay, all in the quote above is true, however, my question for you is if all of the necessary precautions are always followed, how come so many people in the United States, Canada, and in Europe die each and every year from eating bad food, contaminated with E.Coli, and all sorts of bacteria?
You can never be certain of the meat products you import; as to how long that animal was killed:
And depending on the source where you purchase your meat products, for safety, is putting yourself at greater risks, especially when they may be supervising themselves; inspecting themselves, rather than been inspected, and supervised by the FDA.
By now everyone who resides in this country, knows that there is a vast shortage of inspectors, to oversee, Agricultural, Poultry, and meat processing facilities.
So, there is no doubt that people, not only in Dominica is at the mercy of those meats processing plants, but in the United States also where I belief such products are imported from into our country.
Our problem is not the issuance of a licenses to import, since some of our revenues derive from that. My concern is that we should have a microbiological concept of how we should deal with the inspection of such perishable products, and isolate any type of bacteria that could cause harm to our people.
One way we could accomplish that is to have a few people trained in the field, and implement a spot check system, where you will not inspect all of the millions of anything imported, nonetheless, if a hundred cans of Corn Beef is imported, the inspector, should at lease be given the opportunity to open as much as five cans and have the product scientifically test for contaminants that cannot be seen with the human eyes!
Chances are one can out of a hundred may yield something.
Finally, to the person who experience, the purchasing of meat, and when ready to cook it, found out it was spoilt; I imagine it had commenced decaying. You see the reason that spoiled meat was sold to you is because such product are not monitored in our country.
In Europe, the continental United States, and Canada, every single product soled in a Supermarket, or grocery, has an expiration date written on it!
In that case, by the time the date expiring date matures, the owner, company or individual proprietors are obligated to remove that product from the store, it matters not how good it looks, and that’s the law, and even at that people still die from contaminated meat, and other food products.
Who knows some of our people may have suffered the same faith, which went unnoticed!
Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque, Blaa, Blaa, Blaa:
Here you go again trying to speak with authority on matters you know nothing. While Dominica may not have huge labs to test the various food products being sold on the supermarkets shelves, there are a few well trained locals who are internationally certify in food safety and food quality. Without calling names, I know a Dominican who oversaw the Produce Chemist Lab in the gardens who is now (temporarily)managing a food processing plant in NYC that supplies millions of dollars of process foods throughout the US Eastern Seaboard.
Also, Mr. Blaa, Blaa, Blaa,Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque, there are many other well train individuals with top degrees and 1st-class work experience (US & European) who are now on the island and able to carry out what the good doctor is informing us about.
a country like dominica should not be importing meat, period! not when farmers can use land to diversify into meat production. bananas in the west indies can never compete with african nations. they work for peanuts and round the clock. west indians want big money for 9-5 and no sundays. we need to demand that all meat consumed in dominica comes from dominica. give the farmers a chance and then we can even export meat.