Skins of cow, goat and sheep, popularly known as Ponmo, are a local delicacy, eaten in many homes in Nigeria. Ponmo is believed to be the cheapest source of protein, though some experts dispute this. It is part of the condiments used to garnish traditional soups like egusi, ogbono and efo riro, to give them the desired taste and flavour. Though it is a frugal alternative to meat, it is eaten with great relish in many homes due to the taste its succulent texture adds to dishes.
Elsewhere, particularly in advanced climes, rather than being consumed as it is done in Nigeria, the skins of cow, goats and sheep are used in the production of leather and related products.
But the level of consumption in Nigeria is so high that economic and health experts have become worried because of the implications of the development and concerns over the method of processing the animal skin.
In 2015, a lecturer at the Faculty of Clinical Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Mr. Olufemi Aluko, raised the alarm that, owing to the high consumption of the delicacy by Nigerians, the country was losing out in the pack of countries competing for the 75 billion dollar global leather industry.
Hazardous method of processing
Consumed across different social strata, along with other types of meat, ponmo may be tough to eat and requires an arduous process of cooking to soften/tenderise it for human consumption.
Since the main aim of processing cow skin to ponmo, is to remove hair from the skin and tenderise it, meat sellers in abattoirs across the country have cultivated the habit of burning or roasting cow skin after skinning the livestock. They cut it to manageable sizes and throw the pieces in a burning flame to singe the hair off and also commence the process of softening it.
It has, however, been observed that, oblivious of the health implication, traders in cow skin adopt a hazardous means of processing it into the ponmo delicacy.
The traders usually produce the flames for processing cow skin to ponmo from bonfire made with disused tyres, because of its supposed effectiveness in making it tender.
This method, our correspondent also learnt, saves the traders, who may be ignorant of the health dangers involved, the money they would have spent on using cooking gas for boiling the cow skin and processing it into ponmo. Petrochemical agents, such as kerosene, diesel or petrol, are often poured on the disused tyres before setting fire to it, to create an intense flame for processing cow skin.
According to findings, car tyres are made out of liquid latex from natural rubber, which is mixed with acids, polymer, carbon black, sulfur, zinc and other anti-ultraviolet radiation chemicals. These chemicals are no doubt dangerous to human health.
So, the ponmo made through roasting cow skin in flames made with tyre and other petrochemicals, is more likely to carry residual elements, which are unfit for consumption and may have dangerous effects on the body system.
There are also concerns that some chemical substances given to cattle (for veterinary reasons), prior to slaughter, may remain in the skin and subsequently passed on to humans, through ponmo. This is in addition to fears that the cow skin harbours parasites, lesions or diseases, which can be transferred into the food chain.
The danger
Experts have, therefore, warned of the grave consequences of ingesting the ponmo meat prepared in this manner. They have also drawn attention to the dangers in inhaling the fumes released into the atmosphere around the abattoirs where cow skin is processed into ponmo by burning it with disused tyres and other petrochemical products.
A medical doctor at the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, Dr. Enitan Shonubi, said the zinc concentration level in tyres was high enough to make it very toxic to life and even plants, making the consumption of ponmo, processed by burning and inhaling the fumes generated, extremely hazardous.
Shonubi said of particular concern was the evidence that some of the compounds that leaked from burnt tyres into food or the air, contained hormone disruptors that could cause liver lesions.
He added that long exposure to the fumes emitted from the burnt tyres might also cause vital organs in the body system to malfunction and also result in various gastro intestinal cancers.
An Occupational Therapist at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex, Dr. Ajia Lamid, said the recommended exposure limit for carbon black at a concentration greater than 0.1 per cent, according to occupational safety and health rules, could be regarded as a potential human carcinogen in the workplace.
Lamid added that this might cause adverse health effects, following exposure through inhalation, ingestion or dermal contact.
“The truth is that it is not only the people that eat this product that are at risk. Even those involved in the roasting are at more risk, because continuous inhalation of fumes from burning of tyres for roasting ponmo will cause a decrease in pulmonary function and myocardial dystrophy. The signs and symptoms that a person may experience include regular cough, phlegm, tiredness, chest pain and headache.
He also warned that constant skin contact with the carbon black might also cause skin irritation.
A Biomedical Scientist at Wellforte Medical Diagnostic and Research Centre, Ikorodu, Lagos, Dr. Tochukwu Okoye, declared the consumption of ponmo as unhealthy.
Okoye claimed that some unscrupulous ponmo processors/producers inject chemical agents into the delicacy to make it plump and more appealing to buyers.
“How can a damaged motor tyre that has chemical components added to it while producing it, add anything good to a cow skin, or the human body?”
He, however, noted that since most people still insisted on eating ponmo as a substitute for meat, despite several warnings, better methods of production, complemented with appropriate monitoring and public health inspection as well as certification, would allay the many fears about the consumption of the delicacy.
“Due to its level of popularity and availability, I believe what ought to be done is to address the concerns surrounding its production and ensure that methods that are used follow the right specifications and standards,” Okoye said.
