Vol. 8, Special Issue 6 (2023)

Objective: To assess meat shops established at Bharatpur Sub- Metropolitan City, Chitwan

Methods and Methodology: Survey was conducted on one hundred and sixty meat shops by using semi-structured and pre-tested questionnaires. All the registered retail meat shops were randomly selected and unregistered meat shops were purposively included for the study.

Results: Out of the total 160 meat handlers, 10% were illiterate and remaining respondents had at least primary level education. Only 3.75% had participated in training regarding hygienic production of meat. More than half (58.1%) of the shops were registered, water was logged in the floor of 15% shops and 30.6% shops had proper drainage system. Observations revealed that 66% shops used tap water and 60% shops were open. Nuisance of flies was found in majority of shops. Regarding personal hygiene, none of the meat handlers wore mask, hairnet, gloves, gumboots and 65.6% of the respondents indicated that they wore apron regularly. The frequency of using disinfectant in floor cleaning and frequency of presence of flies over meat were significantly associated (p<0.05) with level of education and type of meat shops respectively.

Conclusion and Recommendations: Sanitary condition and practices of meat shops and their premises was poor and there is a huge gap between the standard provisions mentioned in Animal Slaughterhouse and Meat Inspection Act 1999 and Regulation 2001 and rules adopted by the butcher. Thus, there is need for the local authority to put in place stringent measures and bridge gap in order to improve meat marketing system in Nepal.