A FORMER Agriculture livestock officer at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL) has revealed the true story related to the manufacturing of luncheon meat in a country in Asia.
This was in relation to the discovery of a sore plaster cast in the canned food that was encountered by a family at Lengakiki last week.
The old lad who refuses to reveal his identity said, this was a long time concern for him and he had preached it to a number of people already but not in the media.
He told this paper that this is first-hand information from him and he would like to call upon all consumers to refrain from eating the packed meat.
“It all started when I and two of my colleagues from MAL went on a ‘Look and Learn’ trip to an Asian country (name withheld) back in 1982.
“It was a government sponsored trip but for me, it is just a waste of time to go on that trip because we did not learn anything.
“The weirdest part was our visit to the factory that manufactures luncheon meat,” he said.
He told this paper that, from his experience it is very sad to see how the factory operates.
“Lest you do not know about luncheon meat, our government should not import such ready food.
“In that factory, even dead pigs are slaughtered and being an old man now and seeing and reading about the canned food in the media just recently means that, the discovery is a hidden truth behind the scene,” he said.
He told the Solomon Star that after they returned from the trip, they submitted a compiled report to the government back then as part of the requirement of the look and learn trip.
However, they have not able to relay the message through media until the recent incident that happened in the country.
“I was there, and I have seen these things in front of my eyes that they are not safe for human consumption.
“I want to call upon the government to restrict the import of such sick food because it is a grave threat to the lives of the local people in our country,” the former livestock officer said.
Meanwhile, he urges Solomon Islanders not to buy such canned food where they have little or no understanding of because if they ignore his call, such cases that have just happened will affect their health one day.
By RONALD FLIER TOITO’ONA
