The delicacy enjoyed in offal or intestines when
eating meat can not be described. Many Nigerians prefer to eat liver, lungs,
spleen and shaki(stomach) popularly called towel. I doubt if anyone can enjoy
jollof rice(either Nigerian or Ghanian) without the small slices of boiled
liver.
The argument is that they are less fatty and should
be good-really better- than the red meat usually consumed. This may actually be
true as the animal skin contains the adipose tissue(lots of fat) which the
intestine is free of. The intestine contains some fat too but relatively lesser
than that of the red meat.
Should the offal and or intestines be preferred to
the regular meat based on the above submissions? Well, let’s discuss something
important.
Zoonosis is no longer news( a situation where a
communicable disease is passed from animals to man) and we have seen lots of
cases of recent such as the bird flu, Ebola, SARS to mention a few. Some animals
can harbour microorganisms and pass to man in a very dangerous way and the ones
above are very good examples.
Transmission comes in different ways but I should
let you know that the offal or intestine is a very sure way of animal to man
transmission. The organs of the animal are usually heavy carriers of the
disease causing agents. The liver is designed to clear toxins out of the body
and as such, you may end up getting majority of toxins by a microbe in the
liver. The lungs is attacked by specific organisms especially the Mycobacterium Bovis responsible for Tuberculosis which can then be
easily transmitted to humans. Also note that the blood is one of the richest (actually
the richest) substrate for microbes and as such contains lots of microbial
activities in which this organs are literally bathed when being removed.
Let’s not be too scared but the above information
shows that eating not properly cooked offal can be a very good invitation to
communicable diseases. I am particularly worried because many of the people
involved in the meat business don’t understand the safety involved. So how do
we enjoy our meat without being at risk of contacting diseases? Let me share
just two tips about lungs and liver since they are the most consumed.
1.
The
lungs contains lots of holes but are usually small regular holes. If you see a
lungs for sale with large irregular holes, with a possible yellow colouration, that’s
probably our guy sharing the tuberculosis around. If properly cooked you may
not contact it but believe me, you can cross contaminate through handling
before cooking. If I were you, I’ll just avoid.
2. The
liver is very essential in fighting off toxins from microbes and any other type
of poisoning ingested. The simple way to know a liver that is bad or that has
been harbouring toxins is through size. An inflated liver is probably from a
diseased animal. Sometimes the liver gets spongy and tough too. These are signs
that the liver might be from an animal not fit for killing in the first place.
As you go about your
daily business, we should be safe from communicable diseases especially as the
current economy does not support diversion of resources into hospital bills.
Don’t forget the rule
of food safety, if you are not sure, just don’t eat.
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