Abattoirs rewarded for excellence

©Deborah Benbrook via 123RF

"Since the inception of these awards and consistent auditing of abattoirs using the national Hygiene Assessment System document, there has been a significant improvement in compliance with the Meat Safety Act," MEC Mlibo Qoboshiyane said.

A total of 36 abattoirs were audited for the awards - 25 red meat and 11 poultry abattoirs. They were recognised in four main categories; High Throughput Red Meat, High Throughput Poultry, Low Throughput Red Meat and Low Throughput Poultry abattoirs.

"Abattoirs are important in the food production chain and processes," Qoboshiyane said. "Those that comply with the set rules and regulations make it easy for our economy to grow.

"These awards must help us close any gap in the market.

"We must comply with the laws so that no one will reject our livestock and our meat in the markets."

Winners in the High Throughput Red Meat category were Lentaba Meats, Andrews Abattoir, Glen Victor Meats, Austin Evans Abattoir and Kei Livestock Abattoir.

High Throughput Poultry Abattoirs Sovereign Foods and Anca Poultry abattoirs were top.

Low Throughput Red Meat Abattoir winners were the Hillcrest, Drakensburg, Graaff-Reinet, Middledrift and J le Roux abattoirs.

The Low Throughput Poultry Abattoirs winners were the Noorsveld, Tyndall, and Bokmakierie abattoirs.

There are 103 abattoirs registered in the Eastern Cape, 16% of all the abattoirs in the country.

Source: Herald