THE Indian Embassy in Cairo has slammed reports that have recently appeared in local media about Indian meat being infected with sarcocyst, describing them as inaccurate and misleading. "India's commitment is to provide quality meat at affordable prices," said R. S. Swaminathan, the Indian Ambassador to Egypt, in a press conference in Cairo late on Thursday, adding that Indian meat underwent rigorous tests before and after arrival in Egypt to guarantee its quality in the Egyptian market. The tests involve physical and microbial inspections in laboratories. Halal (lawful) frozen boneless buffalo meat has been exported regularly to Egypt from India for more than four years and there have been no complaints about the quality. According to Asit Triparhy, the head of India's Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Indian meat is exported to 65 countries worldwide, none of which has complained of sarcocyst or any other quality-related issue. Triparhy added that India adhered to the latest quality control measures for the export of its meat. "The livestock in India are reared naturally on green pastures and not stall-fed. There is also no recourse to growth promoters. The meat is exported in its boneless and deglanded form," stressed Triparhy, adding that Egypt is the only country that has veterinarians who inspect the meat production process in the Indian plants. A few weeks ago, news reports about Indian meat allegedly being infected with sarcocyst caused panic in the meat market, pushing the prices up by about 35 per cent. Egypt, the third-biggest importer of Indian meat, gets nearly 40 per cent of its imported meat from India. "The Egyptian consumer likes Indian meat, because the quality and the price are good," said Alaa Radwan, head of the Egyptian Meat Importers Association. Radwan denied that any consignments of Indian meat have been rejected by the Egyptian authorities, adding that imported meat is strictly inspected by different authorities. He added that the media campaign had caused the price of meat to increase yet again, making Egyptians' sufferings even more acute.
