Consumers urged to choose carefully when buying meat

AMMAN — The Consumer Protection Society (CPS) on Wednesday urged the public to buy fresh meat instead of frozen minced meat sold at supermarkets and butcher shops.

A CPS statement quoted the society’s president, Mohammad Obeidat, as saying that consumers have filed several complaints on the poor quality of frozen meat sold in local markets. 

Obeidat advised consumers to be present when ordering and buying minced meat, warning that some shops mix several types of “low-quality” meat, which could pose a health hazard.

He called for “strict regulations” to monitor shops that sell meat products. 

Mohammad Khreisha, director of the Jordan Food and Drug Administration’s (JFDA) food directorate, said the administration examines the quality of meat in the market every four months.

Khreisha told The Jordan Times that the regulations governing the local meat market are the same as in international markets.

“Meat and dairy products could pose the highest risks to consumers’ health, which is why we examine the quality of meat before anything else,” he added. 

“More than 85 per cent of the food supplies in the Jordanian market are imported,” Khreisha noted.

The temperature suitable for meat products is -18°C and the regulations are applied to both local and imported goods, according to the JFDA official. 

“It is important to ask about the freezer temperature in shops. When the temperature changes, the product starts going bad,” he said, urging consumers to check the expiration date of meat products and whether or not they are “fit for human consumption”. 

Khreisha said consumers tend to buy frozen meat because fresh meat is more expensive.

“Consumers should check the product information before buying it,” he added. 

Nutritionist Razan Shweyhat told The Jordan Times that frozen and fresh meat do not differ in nutrients. 

“In order to keep meat for a longer time, we freeze it, as this can help keep the meat in good condition without contamination,” she said. 

“The most important thing about frozen meat is the way it is kept — we only freeze bacteria; we don’t kill it,” Shweyhat added.

“As soon as the meat is taken out of the freezer, it should be defrosted and cooked. If we want to freeze it again it should be right after cooking in order to kill the bacteria,” she said.

Meat can be kept out of the freezer for a very short period of time, according to Shweyhat.