The 'dirty' trick of injecting weight gain into the slaughterhouse by butchers

Many traders have injected dirty water, sedatives, and bran into buffaloes, cows, pigs, chickens, etc. to increase their weight for illegal profits. Not only are consumers being "rigged", they also face unpredictable health risks..

People from La Den facility are sticking water pipes into the buffalo's belly to pump water.

Buffaloes are injected with water to gain weight.

After a period of lull, recently, the situation of injecting water into livestock and poultry to increase weight has started to recur.

Hau Giang police have just caught La Den facility (Phung Hiep district) in the act of pumping water into buffaloes. After the buffalo was killed, La Den facility had people tie the buffalo's four legs to four poles and then used a water pipe to insert into the buffalo's belly to pump water in. After a short time, the buffalo's body was swollen and full of water.

Each buffalo after using the water injection “technology” can gain about 20% more weight and the seller can easily make a profit of 4-6 million VND/head. The owner of La Den facility revealed that this water injection “technology” has been applied for a whole year. The water injection to increase weight is based on an agreement with the customer, according to which the price of water injected meat is cheaper than dried meat, so it is easier to sell.

Cows are fat and bloated because pond water is pumped directly into their meat.

In September 2013, during a joint inspection in Da Nang City, authorities discovered that three cattle slaughterhouses in the area were pumping water directly into the cows’ stomachs to increase their weight. Usually, the cow owners inserted a 1.5-meter-long soft water pipe and only stopped when the cows’ entire bodies were swollen.

Each cow after being injected with water increases its body weight by about 20%, helping the owner earn 2-3 million VND. The consequence is that the cow can die before being slaughtered, and the water source is often taken directly from the wells at the slaughterhouse, which is not hygienic, affecting the health of consumers because beef is highly susceptible to microbial contamination, especially for diners who prefer rare beef.

Slaughterhouse owners pump water into cows to increase their weight before slaughter.

An investigation by Dan Viet newspaper at a slaughterhouse in T commune, Do Luong district, Nghe An in 2011 showed that after the bleeding, the butchers used many plastic water pipes as big as fingers, with large needles inserted into the tip, to inject the needles into the cow's throat, some directly into the artery to "drink water". The cows were initially skinny, but after being "drink water", each one became fat and plump.

When butchering these cows, the butcher continues to inject water into the beef. Wherever the needle is inserted, each piece of meat swells up. Even the internal organs such as the heart, liver, etc. are injected with water to make them swell up. Each cow after being injected with water usually gains about 20-30kg.

Poultry is also injected...

On the morning of February 15, the interdisciplinary inspection team of Binh Chanh district, Ho Chi Minh City handled 9 cases of illegal poultry storage, trading, and slaughter, temporarily detaining 273 chickens and ducks of unknown origin.

Pumping water to increase weight of chickens and ducks before selling to market

Notably, there were two cases of illegal poultry storage and slaughter in Vinh Loc B, both of which were carried out in extremely unsanitary conditions. At an unnumbered house in Hamlet 1B rented by Mr. Nguyen Xuan Hinh, a bottle of crystalline chemicals of unknown origin was discovered, used to dye chicken skin yellow and to inject water into the muscles of poultry to increase weight. According to a representative of Binh Chanh Veterinary Station, this type of chemical can cause cancer in humans.

At the remaining “illegal” slaughterhouse, also in Vinh Loc B commune, when discovered, the slaughtermen dispersed the goods and did not cooperate, cursing at the inspection team. Here, the team also discovered tools for pumping feed to increase the weight of poultry.

...and mercilessly padded to increase weight

Besides pumping water, the situation of "stuffing" chickens and ducks with bran, rice cakes, cold rice, and even cheap impurities is also quite common at poultry wholesale markets in the North.

Stuffing bran to increase chicken weight

With this method, traders can easily cheat on weight. According to a famous chicken trader at Ha Vi poultry market (Thuong Tin, Hanoi), by stuffing rice cakes into the chicken like that, a bird can gain 100-300g more, not to mention the fact that they weigh it incorrectly or underweight it.

In 2013, the Inspectorate of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ca Mau discovered that many slaughterhouses were pumping water into pigs. The trick of the traders was to pump water directly into the digestive system until the pigs were full and unable to stand up, falling over. Many pigs were pumped with water twice before being slaughtered: the first time by the traders, the second time by the slaughterhouse. By this method, the business owners earned a profit of 400,000-500,000 VND/pig.

Pigs that have been pumped with water are being prepared to be sold.

Pig farmers also use lean meat hormones and super growth hormones. According to the investigation, this Chinese growth hormone helps pigs grow quickly, with big thighs and shoulders, and costs from 500,000 to 1.2 million VND/kg.

However, according to the business community, pigs raised with growth promoters are very susceptible to death during long-distance transportation, so traders deal with this by injecting the pigs with a sedative to make them sleepy. When the pigs are brought to the slaughterhouse, they continue to inject this drug again. This sedative also has the effect of overcoming the disadvantages of pigs raised with growth promoters, such as making the pork have a more natural pink-red color (pork raised with growth promoters has a dark red color), helping the meat to be less dry and more supple...

According to Vietnam.net