Title - Meat wagon rolls on more cartons of stale beef land

Seizures of substandard beef and mutton brought by trains from other states have raised concerns about quality of meat sold at outlets and eateries in the city. Following reports that meat from other states was entering the city illegally, civic officials have been conducting raids on trains originating from Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan.

On Thursday morning, they saw cartons being offloaded from Jaipur Express at Chennai Central. When they cut them open, they found four tonnes of mutton without mandatory health department seals. Later at 2pm, two tonnes of beef were seized from Bikaner Express at Central. This came a day after 1.4 tonnes of beef illegally transported into the city was confiscated from a train from AP at Egmore station.

Inquiries revealed the buyer was most likely based in Chintadripet although officials could not trace the person who was to take the delivery. The origin of the consignment also remains unknown. Railway officials have sought a day's time to provide the booking details. Sources said the meat looked like it was cut two days earlier. "We have sent samples to the Madras Veterinary College for a microbial count. Results will come in 48 hours.

Only then will we be able to confirm if it was decomposing," said an official. Veterinary doctors say meat, if not iced or refrigerated, begins decomposing five hours after it is cut. The meat has to be refrigerated at 4 degrees Celsius constantly, or packed in ice boxes on a 1:1 ratio. "If you are sending 4,000kg of mutton, it has to be packed with 4,000kg of ice. It's impractical," says a doctor. The meat confiscated was brought in thermocol boxes with no ice. "Meat transported in a non air-conditioned wagon, would have decomposed after so many hours," he says.

Corporation officials say legally slaughtered meat which has a seal and certification, can be consumed without fear because of the strict procedure followed by officials. "Besides preservation, the animal's health condition has to be checked to ensure that it carried no contagious disease and had been kept clean," said an official. "The meat has to be bled completely to slow down the growth of bacteria," according to guidelines of the food and agricultural organisation of the United Nations.

"Bacteria could cause severe gastroenteritis and problems like diarrhoea," says gastroenterologist Dr Satheesh Kumar. Restauranteurs say they avoid problems by buying only the right amount of meat on a daily basis. "We do not usually keep leftover meat. We buy meat fresh every morning," says M Prem, MD of Sree Velu Military Hotel.