YEREVAN. - The consumers shouldn’t be scared by horror stories on mass contamination of the cattle and danger of meat. 

Head of the Veterinary Inspectorate of the State Service for Food Safety of Armenia, Hovhannes Mkrtchyan, noted the aforementioned at a press conference today.

He noted that the name “swine flu” is conventional and doesn’t mean that pork can cause catching swine flu. The same refers to the meat infected with foot-and-mouth disease.  The viruses of these diseases die at high temperature i.e. (if the meat is stewed or processed otherwise thermally).

“The unofficial name of the H1N1 virus disturbs the consumers a lot. People avoid buying meat, and some of them are afraid to enter the meat department. Although the fear is groundless, the trade and thus the economy suffer from it,” Mkrtchyan said.  

He again urged the citizens not to fear the ready-made meat products and food and not believe the unchecked worrisome rumor.