THE Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday advised the public against purchasing semi-processed and homemade pork products such as tocino and longganisa amid the African swine fever (ASF) outbreak.
Agriculture spokesperson Noel Reyes told consumers to instead purchase cooked and canned pork products only.
“‘Yong mga gawa sa bahay, hindi natin malaman kung [ang] kinatay na baboy ay may sakit o wala so iwas po tayo sa semi-processed na tocino, longganisa [na] homemade,” he said.
“Let’s depend only on cooked and canned pork products. ‘Yon po, sigurado kasi ‘pag naluto for 70 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes, wala ‘yon, patay na ‘yong virus no’n.”
Reyes also told consumers to look for a National Meat Inspection Service seal or certificate when purchasing pork products.
He reiterated that pork meat remains safe since ASF is not transmissible to humans or animals other than pigs.
The DA spokesperson added that they are working with other government agencies to address cases of overpricing of pork products amid the outbreak.
“Dapat ‘yan nasa P50 to P60 from the farmgate, tapos sa retail, mga P50 to P60 lang dapat ang patong,” he explained. (GMA News)
