Are the monsoon showers tempting you to reach out for that piping hot cup of tea along with some hot fritters and unhealthy junk from the streets? Halt right there! While the rain may bring you respite from the blazing summer heat, it also brings with it a series of bacterial infections.

The damp and humid atmosphere serves as a perfect breeding ground for fungi and bacteria and the rapid change in the weather makes it a suitable environment for them to multiply further.

As the human body becomes prone to a lot of stomach infections and diseases, including allergies and diarrhoea during this season, doctors often prescribe completely avoiding or at least reducing the consumption of meat, citing digestive concerns. But is meat the real culprit messing with our digestion and health during monsoons?

Monsoons are the time when the human body’s immunity tends to take a dip. Basically, one needs to stay away from foods that are partially cooked or are exposed to contamination.

In India, a majority of people procure meat and chicken from the neighbourhood butcher shops or slaughterhouses considering them as fresh. Little do they know that these vendors and shops often store poultry and meat that has been raised under unhygienic and inhumane conditions of common feedlots and overburdened slaughterhouses? They are injected with varied chemicals that can cause serious health concerns to non-vegetarians, even if it’s consumed in seasons other than the monsoons.

So rather than blaming the meat for the fear of having a stomach infection, curse the lack of quality checks of the meat during the time of farming and the ignorance by multiple stakeholders in terms of taking responsibility towards solving the problems of Farm-to-Fork consumption models.

In order to safely consume one’s favourite meat preparation, it becomes mandatory for meat eaters to check for the freshness of the produce, especially if they are buying packed meat. If the methods of preservation are incorrect in this season, there are chances that the stored meat can get spoilt or contaminated due to excessive moisture, making it highly unfit to consume.

Buying meat from a reliable source, especially during monsoon, is crucial, due to the high risks of meat contamination in this season. Poultry diseases are rampant in the wet weather and washing them alone won’t make the meat get rid of harmful bacteria.

To resolve such issues, online fresh meat brands like Zappfresh are taking up the responsibility of organizing the farms, creating an infrastructure and making safe and fresh meat accessible to the consumers.

They are trying to prevent uncertainties in terms of safety and quality by working closely with the poultry and meat farmers to make sure that the meat is raised right, prevented from diseases and regularly monitored by veterinary doctors. Apart from conducting stringent quality checks at every stage from procuring until delivery, the use of high- maintenance technology is ensuring that the packaging is done only under hygienic conditions.

With double-layered packaging, the cold temperature of the product is retained for longer periods of time and helps in carrying the product around with no leakages, thereby keeping the meat safe and fresh even during monsoons

So, as the cool wind gushes in with the drizzle tempting you to munch on those tasty non- vegetarian delicacies such as chicken keema pattice, or chicken samosas or popcorn, make no inhibitions towards tapping the online meat procurement brands that promise a high-quality meat buying experience without making any compromises towards one’s health and well-being.

(Deepanshu Manchanda, CEO & Co-founder, Zappfresh)