Fly-covered pig carcasses were bound for festival

A pig carcass covered in flies was just hours away from being sold to customers at a festival near Maidstone, before a last-minute intervention by council officers. Swindon Borough Council received a complaint on Friday July 12 that animals were being butchered in a back garden. One of the pig carcasses was found with its head still attached covered in plastic sheeting and lying in a paddling pool with bags of ice.

An officer then noticed another pig inside a gas-fired hog roast covered in flies and the council took swift court action to get the bodies removed. Defendants Keshar Rana and Ashis Limbu said they bought them from a farm in Wales but were initially reluctant to provide further details.

They later said the cooked meat was meant to be sold to eat at Nepalese cultural festival, Kirat Yakthung Chumlung, held on Saturday, July 13, in Yalding. No health marks or stamps were found on the carcasses confirming they had not been slaughtered in an approved abattoir where they would have been subject to a post mortem check which identifies and rejects any unfit meat. Routine inspections mean the organs of slaughtered pigs are rejected along with parts of the carcasses such as heads and legs due to conditions such as septicaemia, pleurisy, pericarditis, abscesses or the presence of parasites.

Without such checks having been carried out there is a very real risk of unfit meat entering the food chain.

The court granted the town hall’s request under Section 9 of the Food Safety Act 1990 for a declaration condemning two pig carcasses and for an order they may be destroyed. Mr Rana and Mr Limbu, who were known to those holding the festival, were ordered to pay the council costs of £1,610.

Festival organiser Ganesh Ijam said: “I understand they were not aware of food and hygiene regulations. We always encourage people to follow these and to buy certified food.”