According to a report, Rwandan authorities  have banned sales of meat that has not been refrigerated for at least 24 hours before sale to tame diseases.

This was announced by the country’s basic consumer rights watchman Competition and Consumer Protection Authority(RICA).

The ban has been made in order to tame zoonotic and transmissible diseases.

According to RICA’s registration and licensing specialist Gaspard Simbarikure, the ban is based on an earlier regulation in May 2022, to govern meat businesses but has since then been ignored.

The regulation required all meat retailers to acquire authorized licenses and also enforce strict measures for the operators on how to handle meat in slaughterhouses and butcheries.

Gaspard said that the new order will ensure safe consumption of meat and avert the risk of contracting meat-borne diseases such as taeniasis, among others.

‘Some were complying with having refrigerating rooms and other not. We have to ensure fair competition. In addition, people will consume unsafe and poor-quality meat,” he said.

He went on saying that the refrigerator order will also need to meet two factors; time for exposure and temperature.

“Chilling must be done at least 24 hours to ensure the effectiveness of the chilling operation. FAO has recommended chilling of at least 24hours and reaching temperature be between2-4 0C,” he said.

Germs causing Zoonotic diseases can cause different types of illnesses in people and animals, ranging from mild, to serious and even death.

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