Tuen Mun stall owner laments a sales drop
Pork vendors in Tuen Mun did not step up precautions against the pig-borne disease even though a 44-year-old Wellcome supermarket butcher has been infected.
A stall owner who sells pork at a wet market at Leung King Estate - where the Wellcome store involved is located - said business had dropped because of the food scare.
'I thought customers who used to buy pork from Wellcome would buy from us instead. But my business has dropped by 30 per cent ever since the pig-borne disease outbreak in Sichuan hit the news headlines. Some housewives are worried that they might get infected when cooking pork.'
The trader, a friend of the sick butcher, said he had seen the wound on his friend's finger before he was admitted to hospital.
'The wound seemed a bit swollen. His work includes chopping pork into pieces and packing them. He said a doctor told him to stay in hospital only for observation.'
'Butchers hurt themselves once in a while. It is not a big deal,' he said, while chopping ribs without wearing gloves. None of the other butchers in the market wore gloves.
Outside the Wellcome branch were notices saying that none of its pork was from Sichuan and that all its products had been inspected by health officers. Freezers used to hold fresh pork were empty. Some marinated pork ribs and pork chops were available at a discount.
A 53-year-old housewife, Yuen Wu Sau-lin, who used to buy pork from the Wellcome branch, said she felt very worried. 'I feel like the pig-borne disease is now knocking on our doors. It was first reported in Sichuan, but now it is reported in Tuen Mun. I used to buy my pork from the Wellcome branch, but I will never do that again.'
But another customer said she would still eat pork. 'We have mad cow disease, bird flu, poisonous fish, vegetable with too much pesticide and canned food with too much chemicals. What else can we eat?' she said.
