Fresh Pork Stalls Closed for Today

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Latest Pig Industry News

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

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Fresh Pork Stalls Closed for Today

SINGAPORE - Pork sellers in wet markets across the island will take an unscheduled holiday today, following a gas leak that forced a one-day closure of the sole abattoir here.

Most of those who sell fresh Indonesian pork have opted to take the day off instead of switching to selling frozen pork or pork from other sources, reports The Straits Times.

Fresh pork from pigs imported from Indonesia for slaughter will reappear in wet markets and supermarkets on Thursday, said a spokesman for the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA).

Lau Geok Tin, whose stall is in the Clementi Avenue 3 wet market, said, "My regulars like fresh pork. There's no point switching to supplying frozen or chilled pork for just a day."

With each pig costing US $300, the shutdown adds up to a $270,000 in losses for the abattoir in Jurong, which slaughters a daily shipment of 900 pigs from Pulau Bulan in the Riau islands.

Operations on its Buroh Lane premises were halted on Monday morning, when a metal tube supplying ammonia to cool the air in the meat chillers sprang a leak. To prevent ammonia contamination of the pork, the entire shipment was incinerated.