No more meat items in some fastfood stores

FASTFOOD meal items with meat are not being offered because of a lack of supply due to the pork ban to prevent the spread in Cebu of the African swine fever (ASF).

A manager of a Chinese food joint in one of the malls told SunStar Cebu they have been explaining to customers why their fried rice variant, soup and siopao have not been available since the end of September. “We told them it’s because of the ban. Our supplier is from Luzon and we’re still waiting for a memo there on when the supply will resume,” he said.

Another manager, this time of a pizza place, also said they are not offering pizza with ham and bacon anymore because they don’t have supply. The manager does not know when the next supply will come. “Right now, the feedback will be coming from Manila. All our ingredients come from Manila,” she said.

Carlo Lobitaña, customer service associate of a business process outsourcing company, said he felt disappointed when he didn’t get his favorite from a fastfood joint but he said he understood the reason for this.

“It’s my go-to food because it’s fast to prepare and, with the siomai, it’s the perfect combo. After knowing that they are not serving it for now, I was disappointed because now I have to look for a different fastfood restaurant,” Lobitaña told SunStar Cebu.

“But I totally understand because we’re talking about our health here and the heads-up given by the crew was okay. At least the people are aware that they should not buy just any pork,” he added.

Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia issued Executive Order 16 in mid-September that implemented a 100-day total ban on the entry of live hogs, pork, pork-related products, byproducts and boar semen from Luzon because of the ASF. Garcia’s ban will end on Dec. 28.

As there is a disruption in pork supply, others have turned to online selling to push pork products to avoid the ban.

Provincial Veterinarian Dr. Mary Rose Vincoy said they will monitor closely the online selling of pork products after one person was stopped by the ASF task force after he was found selling products from Pampanga on social media. The seller even offered free delivery in Cebu.

The person was not arrested but he was issued a cease and desist order and his supply was confiscated. (with ANV)

Trending

No stories found.

Just in

No stories found.

Branded Content

No stories found.
SunStar Publishing Inc.
www.sunstar.com.ph