BRATISLAVA, October 25, (WEBNOVINY) — Agriculture Minister Zsolt Simon (MOST-HID) presented on Monday what he called alarming results of food safety checks conducted by the State Veterinary and Food Administration in retail outlets from October 1 to October 22, in which kilograms of poultry unsuitable for human consummation have been seized from the shelves. The veterinary authority moved based on the mounting number of complaints from customers. “The result of this control is sometimes even alarming,” the minister described the outcome. The most serious flaw revealed was damaged meat packaging. The controllers also drew attention to the stores‘ failure to keep the prescribed temperature in sale of chilled poultry, insufficient sanitary conditions in stores and incorrect labeling of the quality category of food products.
As Tesco Stores SR was the only retail chain to end up on the veterinary authority’s blacklist, the minister did not rule out that information on the prepared control might have been leaked. Based on the control, the minister promises to propose a change to the law on veterinary care and controllers. “In order to enable that an inspector from Bratislava can be ordered to go to Zilina for a check in the morning, without any local links, in order that the check was even more objective,” stated Simon. The department will also strive to change the system of fines for violations. Simon says that the previous government had toughened fines only formally when it shifted the cap on sanctions from SKK 2 million to EUR 500,000. “So far nobody was fined EUR 500,000 in administrative procedure [for food safety violation — editor’s note],” said Simon. The minister thinks that with regard to their profit, retail chains can afford to pay the sanctions. “The highest fine levied currently was EUR 20,000 – 25,000”, the minister says. He announced that checks will continue also over November.
SITA