Chicken products with salmonella, found by ANPC in several well-known stores in Bucharest, Ilfov and Vrancea

Commissioners of the National Consumer Protection Authority (ANPC) announced on Monday that salmonella was discovered in several chicken products from various stores, including Penny Colentina, Penny Bucurestii Noi and Metro Băneasa, and the respective lots were withdrawn by on sale.

Partial results presented on Monday in a press release show that:

• the samples taken in Vrancea county, from chicken organs from Agricola Internaţional SA, sold in the Lidl store in Focşani, were confirmed with Salmonella Infantis
• samples taken in the Penny warehouse in Ştefăneştii de Jos commune, Ilfov county, from “Hanul Boieresc” brand chicken and chicken organs, produced by Vanbet SRL, were confirmed with Salmonella Infantis and Salmonella Enteritidis
• samples taken in the Penny Colentina store, in sector 2 of the Capital, from “Hanul Boieresc” brand chicken, produced by Vanbet SRL, were confirmed with Salmonella Infantis and Salmonella Enteritidis
• samples taken in the Penny Bucharesti Noi store, in sector 1 of the Capital, from “Hanul Boieresc” brand chicken, produced by Vanbet SRL, were confirmed with Salmonella
• samples taken in the Metro Băneasa store, in sector 1 of the Capital, from “Coco Rico” brand chicken meat, produced by Aaylex SRL, were confirmed with Salmonella
• samples taken in the Metro Băneasa store, in sector 1 of the Capital, from chicken meat, produced by Agricola Internaţional SRL, were confirmed with Salmonella.

“In case of detection of Salmonella spp. in the collected samples (…) they are declared unfit for human consumption, they are officially detained and withdrawn from human consumption. In case of detection of Salmonella enteritidis and/or Salmonella typhimurium in samples of fresh poultry meat (…) from batches of fresh poultry meat, respectively products of animal origin, which were not delivered to retail units, with with the exception of food warehouses, “they will not be intended for sale to the final consumer until after they have been subjected to a heat treatment to ensure the elimination of this risk, in an authorized sanitary-veterinary processing unit, followed by the performance of a microbiological control for each batch of manufacturing, which certifies that the lot is microbiologically appropriate, when there are no sufficient guarantees that the thermal treatment has eliminated the danger”, ANPC officials sent.

The institution specified that the European regulations mention that the microbiological identification of Salmonella spp. in fresh poultry meat/products from fresh poultry meat is non-compliant, being an indicator of the lack of food safety and involves corrective measures according to the specific legislation.

“The legislative provisions presented are harmonized in the national legislation by the Veterinary Sanitary and Food Safety Authority, which is responsible for their application and which was informed both by the laboratories that detected Salmonella bacteria in the samples presented by ANPC, and by our institution , directly. As a result of taking samples of the products suspected of being infected, the ANPC commissioners have applied, until this moment, contravention fines in the amount of more than 45,000 lei and temporarily stopped the marketing of the batches of problem products, located in the checked premises, later upon receiving the results, the confirmed ones were directed to destruction”, explained the quoted source.