190 shops, hotels and restaurants in Lebanon plagued with rotten meat

Every time fresh information is revealed in the rotten meat file, the magnitude of the scandal grows. Brothers Samih and Sleiman el Natour were arrested, their stores were locked up with official state seals and their meat delivery receipts were confiscated as evidence. This led to the identification of 190 outlets that have bought from these vendors.        

These outlets include 31 restaurants, 27 supermarkets, one hospital and 110 butchers, in addition to dozens of luxury hotels. But the story does not end here, in fact, one of the Natour brothers was reprocessing some of the expired meat to be made into burgers, shawarma or other mixtures that include flavor enhancers.          
The head of the Lebanese Consumer Association, Zuhair Berro, told LBCI that the Natour brothers are the biggest suppliers of rotten meat, but they are not alone. In fact, the citations recently issued targeted four of the biggest meat and fish distributors, impacting several major institutions.         

Remarkably, the rotten meat and fish seized in the past weeks had expired in November of last year, which brings us to question the quality of meats consumed in Lebanon over the holiday season.       

The First Investigative Magistrate in Beirut, Judge Ghassan Oueidat, will hear opening statements in the Natour brothers’ case in Beirut’s Justice Palace on Tuesday after preliminary hearings led to the court bringing forward charges of attempted murder.       

The prosecution also targeted the international meat and foodstuff outlet owned by the accused.