In the backdrop of a raging debate on beef consumption, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Friday said food is a matter of choice and he himself is a strict non-vegetarian.
"I am a strict non-vegetarian. No one has ever told me to stop eating anything. Food is a personal choice," Naidu said.
Food preferences and people's fundamental right to choose what they eat came under the spotlight after the Centre's rules on cattle trade, which banned the buying and selling of cattle for slaughter at animal markets.
The Chief Ministers of Bengal and Kerala said the rule was interfering with people's food preferences.
Several 'beef parties' were held in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
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