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A Civil Society Organization has hailed environmental experts for exposing the Zambeef hazardous meat products being offloaded on the market.
Social Action for Development (SAFD ) Executive Secretary John Mwandapole says the development is a clear indication of reduced corruption by public servants in the country.
Mr. Mwandapole says his organization has therefore commended government for its strides made in reducing corruption as evidenced by this action.
ZANIS reports that the SAFD Executive Secretary said this in an interview in Lusaka, today.
Mr. Mwendapole added that that it was a shame that a reputable company such as Zambeef could betray the support and trust of Zambians due to cooperate greediness.
He noted that one is left to wonder for how long this scam has been going on since Zambeef has been in market for a long time and called on Zambeef management to own up to its responsibility and resign.
He said it is insulting to Zambians for the Zambeef management to disregard findings by Zambian experts and opt to forward samples to foreign countries for further examinations.
“It is the highest degree of arrogance for a suspect of a crime in this case Zambeef to want to champion the course of validating or not, the scientific findings and therefore Zambeef should leave that responsibility to experts,” Mr. Mwendapole said.
Mr. Mwendapole further called on law enforcement agents to pursue criminal charges against Zambeef management and that they should not be intimidated but observe professionalism.
He has implored the people of Zambia not to take lightly to this issue saying consuming contaminated food products has adverse effects on health especially for people infected with the HIV/AIDS virus.
He called on government to remain vigilant and ensure that unsuspecting citizens are not unnecessarily exposed to hazardous products, which could further complicate the immune system of people living with AIDS.
A scam was unearthed recently where it was alleged that Zambeef imported meat products contained a harmful chemical called Aldehyde which is used for embalming dead bodies, a situation which sparked concern among Zambians.
This led to government instituting investigations in the matter with Zambeef withdrawing the alleged contaminated meat products from the market.
This was after the Lusaka City Council health inspectors yesterday discovered the presence of aromatic aldehydes in the beef Zambeef Plc imports from the United Kingdom into Zambia.
According to the local media, Zambeef imports beef products, which mainly include hooves, livers, tripe for sale to Zambians in its many outlets countrywide.
Sources within Zambeef disclosed that the hooves, livers and tripe Zambeef imports are obtained from the UK for almost nothing because they are normally disposed of as waste as no human beings consume them in Britain and that Zambeef makes huge profits out of “these waste products”.
Zambeef also exports beef from Zambia to other countries.
Aromatic aldehydes are organic chemical compounds that contain a carbon hydroxide radical or group and are used as precursor chemicals in the pharmaceutical and plastics industries.
