In a bid to ensure food safety, the Davao City Veterinarian’s Office (CVO) reminded the public anew to only purchase meat and fish from stalls or stores with meat inspection certificates and fish inspection certificates.
“Dili ta basta-basta mupalit og mga karne or mga isda nga naa lang sa kilid-kilid nga dili ta sure, especially karne nga wala gyud niagi og slaughterhouse kay basi’g barato lagi pero madaot ang atoang pamilya (We should not purchase meat or fish with uncertain origin, especially meat that were not from slaughterhouses because while these might be inexpensive it is dangerous to the health of our families),” Dr. Gay Z. Pallar, Acting City Veterinaria, said in an interview with the City Information Office.
She highlighted that the CVO strictly follows and implements the Food Safety Act of 2013 through its Meat and Fish Inspection, Food Safety and Quality Assurance Division to ensure the health safety of consumers.
Pallar said that the selling of meat that was not slaughtered and inspected in verified slaughterhouses is prohibited under this law. She added that personnel from the CVO regularly check and monitor markets to prevent the selling of illegally slaughtered meat, and hot meat.
“We are protecting all our consumers here in the city ug isa pud kanang fish nga illegally caught kay bawal pud na siya (We protect all our consumers here in the city. In addition to this, the selling of illegally caught fishes is also prohibited),” Pallar said.
In 2025, the CVO confiscated a total of 27, 642.92 kilograms of meat due to illegal slaughtering, while 503.09 kilos of fish were confiscated for illegal fishing.
In addition to this, the CVO also has a Red Tide Laboratory Testing facility which regularly tests the mussels or tahong for paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins.
“Ang tanang tahong nga musulod sa atoa ginatest nato through mouse bioassay. Ginacheck gyud nato to confirm na safe ang mga tahong nga musulod sa atoang siyudad ug atoang mabaligya ug mapakaon sa atoang pamilya (We use mouse bioassay to test all mussels that come into our city to confirm that these are safe for consumption),” Pallar said.
In 2025, a total of 378,630 kilograms of tahong were inspected and certified for consumption. CIO
Written by: J. Villaluz
Edited by: A. Nawal
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