Author(s): Niha Ayman, SA Hamdani, AH Akand, Asif H Sofi, Abdul Hai and Asma Altaf Malik

Abstract: In 2019, a survey was conducted in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, to understand people's awareness, buying habits, and perceptions about meat quality, safety, regulations, and contamination. The study covered all 35 administrative wards of Srinagar city, with 245 respondent families randomly selected. The major findings of the study reveal that all the respondents consumed at least one type of meat (mutton/carabeef/poultry). Colour and taste turned out to be the most preferred sensory qualities with respect to consumption of meat and meat products respectively while aversion was found highest for fat marbling. It was found that among the various socio-economic variables only income of meat-consuming households was found to be highly and positively correlated with the sensory attributes like colour and smell. A good percentage of households preferred butcher’s home (sheep and buffalo) and retail shops (poultry) as a place of slaughter while slaughterhouses were preferred by a very little number of people. Besides this, it was noted that people could always assess the spoilage in meat/meat products by use of senses while for adulteration they could never assess the same. There was reduced consumption of meat during disease outbreaks in affected species. Further, it was seen that there was a significant relationship (p<0.05) between the quality consciousness towards consumption of meat and meat products with meat consuming households in Srinagar city. The result of the current study necessitates stringent food safety and quality measures to cater to the increased consumer demand for meat and meat products that can ensure the well-being of people at a reasonable price.

DOI: 10.33545/26174693.2024.v8.i2Sb.513