WHAT'S double-dead meat in Hiligaynon? I asked around to those who have mastery of this Visayan language.
The answer is "botcha," the Tagalog slang for this kind of meat.
In Metro-Manila, "botcha" has been smuggled and sold in public markets. Not only is it being peddled as "fresh" pork, it's even peddled as "lechon."
Recently, VoxPop Bacoólod reported that 12 kilos of "hot meat" were seized by operatives of Task Force Botagoy on Raymond Street in Barangay Singcang Airport, Bacolod City, over the weekend.
Rex Juplo, head of Task Force Botagoy, said the confiscated meat did not undergo inspection at the city's AVM Bernardo slaughterhouse. The vendor failed to present inspection certificates.
The confiscated meat was burned and buried at the city's slaughterhouse grounds.
I agree with the TFB's moves. Without certification, consumers cannot rely on good faith alone that meat is indeed fresh.
Without the certification, is there a way to recognize botcha?
The good news? "Botcha" is recognizable, even to the ordinary market-goer. Atty. Jane Bacayo, executive director of the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS), gave this advisory years ago.
Follow your eyes and nose. "Botcha" is pale, easily crumbles and smells bad. It's often ground and used in chorizo with lots of garlic to mask the bad taste and smell and sometimes marinated in alum (tawas) overnight to bring back the reddish "fresh" color and remove the bad odor.
The hair and skin have not been properly cleaned since "botcha" is often butchered in a hurry before the meat hardens.
While a pig's disease will most likely suffer from diarrhea and vomiting because consumers' will ingest the bacteria coming from the contaminated pig's blood.
"In a dead animal, the contamination of blood is fast. And 'botcha' meat is often slaughtered in a hurry, with no time to properly drain the pig's blood. The worst that could happen is one could suffer from food poisoning, and die from contamination," said Bacayo.
Health is wealth. A peso saved is a peso earned. What benefits will consumers reap if health is affected and will cost more to heal a sick person who ingested contaminated food?
(bqsanc@yahoo.com)
