Over 95 Per Cent of Portland Butchers Recommended for Licensing

The Portland Health Department is reporting strong compliance among butchers in the parish, with more than 95 per cent of applicants recommended for licensing following the annual Butchers Licensing Session held on April 27.

Organised in partnership with the Portland Municipal Corporation, the session brought together butchers and their associates at Hotel Tim Bamboo in Port Antonio for training and certification.

Veterinary Public Health Inspector at the Portland Health Department, Elaine Cunningham-Parkinson, said the engagement is critical to safeguarding public health.

“The main purpose is to ensure that all individuals slaughtering animals for human consumption comply with the public health safety standards, and also all the requirements that go along with that, ensuring that all persons are licensed,” she explained.

Central to the training was a strong focus on proper food-safety practices, particularly the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) System, which is internationally recognised for managing risks in food handling.

“HACCP is a monitoring system used to control the hazards in food safety. It’s also a way of identifying aspects of their operations that could harm the health of the customers or the consumers. So, we utilise that standard as well,” Mrs. Cunningham-Parkinson said.

She emphasised that compliance does not end with the licensing session, as the Health Department continues to monitor butchers to ensure that standards are consistently upheld.

“We have a checklist that we utilise to ensure that all our butchers are being monitored periodically, to ensure that they adhere to all the standards and guidelines that are stipulated. We also ensure that we use it as a tool to attain and maintain their standards, hence their recommendations are granted,” the Public Health Inspector added.

Mrs. Cunningham-Parkinson said the high turnout and strong recommendations signalled the success of the session, pointing to effective collaboration among key stakeholders.

“Based on the attendance, it’s quite evident that our intersectoral collaboration with the various agencies was greatly achieved and we had about 95 per cent our butchers recommended. We will work with them over a two-week period in getting those that were not recommended to be recommended as well,” she said.

Mrs. Cunningham-Parkinson also reassured the public of the Health Department’s unwavering commitment to food safety and enforcement.

“We ensure that all meat that is offered for sale to the public is safe. We do our health education throughout, so the butchers are aware… and those who intend to slaughter without a licence, they know that we do not tolerate those practices,” she added.