Health Zone : Ponmo consumption is dangerous to health – NILEST

The Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of Leather Science and Technology, Zaria, Kaduna State, Dr. Isuwa Adamu, on Tuesday warned against the consumption of animal hides and skin, known locally as ponmo.

Adamu told the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja that the consumption of the product as meat substitute was dangerous to health.

He said scientifically, ponmo did 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.

The DG said, “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…