Fraudulent practices in dairy products, detected by ANSVSA inspectors

In the interval 05.02.2024 – 15.03.2024, the National Veterinary Sanitary and Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA) ordered official controls to verify the authenticity and quality parameters of some food products obtained by processing milk and/or some dairy products sold on the Romanian market.

Thus, during the mentioned period, the representatives of the County Veterinary and Food Safety Directorates, as well as that of the Municipality of Bucharest, carried out 3,180 controls in food warehouses authorized/registered for veterinary health and food safety, dairy product repacking units, logistics platforms/ distribution terminals that supply chains of supermarket/hypermarket units, grocery stores, public catering units, wholesale markets, grocery stores set up within markets and/or commercial complexes and in supermarket/hypermarket units.

On the occasion of these controls, the batches of food products obtained through the processing of milk and/or some dairy products from EU member states/third countries, which were repackaged in units in Romania, authorized sanitary and veterinary for carrying out the repackaging activity, were also checked. marking and labeling mode.

Also, 412 samples of dairy and dairy products were collected in order to carry out laboratory analyzes to determine the physico-chemical parameters, in order to verify compliance with the information on the labels, to identify the species of origin of the milk used for the manufacture of these products, as well as for detecting additions of fats of vegetable origin and soy proteins.

As a result of the detected irregularities and the violation of the provisions of the legislation in the field of food safety, 368 contraventional sanctions were applied, in a total amount of 2,849,340 lei. At the same time, 6 activity suspension orders were issued, 13 activity ban orders were issued and the official detention/seizure measure was ordered for a quantity of 17,083 kg of dairy products.

Following the checks carried out, a series of irregularities were found, such as: non-compliance with veterinary sanitary rules regarding the storage and maintenance of premises; operation of the unit without holding a veterinary sanitary and food safety permit; the wearing of incomplete sanitary protection equipment by the staff handling food products; the use of unauthorized sanitary and veterinary means of transport for the transport of food products; lack of carrying out DDD actions in the product storage space.

From the results of the analyzes carried out on the dairy products, the following non-conformities resulted, especially with regard to the analysis of the physico-chemical parameters, percentage differences compared to the declarations regarding the values ​​on the label by the manufacturer: lower percentage of fat compared to the declared one; percentage of chlorides/salt higher than declared; percentage of dry matter lower than that declared; lower protein percentage than declared; inconsistencies regarding the species from which the milk originates, relative to the information on the label.

ANSVSA inspectors will sanction all economic operators who do not comply with hygiene rules and requirements to prevent food safety risks.