Dr Isuwa Adamu, Director-General, Nigerian
Institute of Leather Science and Technology
(NILEST), Zaria, on Tuesday warned against the
consumption of animal hides and skin known
locally as “ponmo”.
Adamu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in
Abuja that the consumption of the product as meat
substitute was dangerous to health.
According to him, scientifically, ponmo does not
have any nutritional value to human health.
“In fact, it is not advisable for you to consume
ponmo in the sense that some of the animals killed
and used for ponmo actually have skin diseases.
“Some of these skin diseases are such that boiling
them ordinarily, may not kill the bacteria,’’ Adamu
said.
He added that some of the animals killed had been
ill and undergoing injections but the rearers went
ahead to kill them, leaving the buyers vulnerable to
chemicals in the animal skin.
“Some of the animals because of the ailments that
they have gone through, are sometimes treated by
way of injection with chemicals.
“People don’t allow these chemicals to complete
its cycle and be removed from the body; they
sometimes go ahead to kill these animals.
“So, if you consume the ponmo, the tendency is
that you are consuming the chemicals directly
because the skin part of the animal retains most of
the harmful substances.
“Remember your skin is the major protective organ
of your body and your skin harbours so many of
the harmful things that are supposed to penetrate
into your body,’’ he explained.
He added that the skin of animals harbour so
many of the harmful waste materials that the body
secretes and boiling only could not remove some
of those wastes.
The NILEST boss said the institute was putting up
efforts to sensitise the public and advise
governments on policies that will help to reduce
the consumption of animal skin to the barest
minimum.
According to him, ponmo consumption is a
national and traditional issue that just putting up
laws may not really help to stop it.
Adamu advised the government to come up with
policies that could be enforced to reduce the
consumption of hides and skin as meat substitute.
He added that this would enhance the quality and
quantity of raw hides and skin that are available to
meet the demands of the tanneries.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/10/ponmo-consumption-dangerous-health/

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