In the wake of seizure of a huge quantity of rotten poultry meat recently, police and food safety department have decided to clamp down on illegal meat shops, besides monitoring eateries and meat shops in Ernakulam.

The inspections and surveillance activities will be carried out separately by both police and food safety department, according to sources.

“In the context of seizure of rotten meat, we will inspect meat shops in the city. Many of them have been operating secretly without valid licence,” said K Ajith Kumar, assistant commissioner, food safety, Ernakulam. However, he refused to divulge more details.

On Friday, police and health department had seized 600kg of rotten duck meat, which was meant for supply in Ernakulam and at Kalavoor in Alappuzha district. In an earlier incident, police had seized over 300kg rotten chicken meat from a stall in Kaloor market.

But food safety department officials expressed their inability to conduct frequent raids due to shortage of staff and vehicles. “It is not possible for us to carry out checking regularly. Coordinated efforts of various agencies are required to keep a check on it. Many a time we are kept in the dark when local bodies and police conduct raids,” said a food safety official.