Food alert in Lidl, Penny or Metro. Many products were recalled after salmonella chicken was found

There is a food alert in several stores in the country, after ANPC inspectors found serious irregularities here. Specifically, they identified salmonella bacteria in chicken meat. Which products have been withdrawn and what explanations do the specialists have for such situations.

Meat with salmonella in famous stores

Salmonella bacteria is one of the most common when it comes to food, but also very dangerous. This time it was detected in poultry products sold in several famous stores, including Penny Colentina, Penny București Noi and Metro Băneasa.

The commissioner of the National Agency for Consumer Protection (ANPC) announced that a campaign has been launched to check all poultry products sold in stores in Romania. Thus, samples were taken for analysis and, depending on the results, new measures will be adopted.

The partial results were communicated on Monday by ANPC inspectors. Thus, the main irregularities identified were:

* samples taken in Vrancea county, of 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, 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.

ANPC says that the identification of this bacteria suggests that the chicken meat products were not kept in suitable conditions. ANPC inspectors imposed contravention fines in the amount of over 45,000 lei and withdrew the infested lots from sale.

Where does meat with salmonella come from?

Paul Anghel, the director general of the Market Control and Surveillance and European Harmonization Directorate of ANPC, spoke about the current situation in our stores in the country. The official reports that the products in which salmonella was found come from Poland, Hungary or even Romania.

“The message we send to retailers, regardless of whether they are large supermarket chains or other types of stores, is that they must stop looking only at the price of the product, most of the time at the expense of quality and compliance,” said the director .

As for the products from us in the country, they come from a producer in Vaslui county. In this context, Paul Anghel advises the big stores not only to take into account the price when purchasing certain lots, but also their quality and especially the details that appear on the label.

Paul Anghel pointed out that the batches contaminated with salmonella have been withdrawn from the market until the results come. The official argues that producers should not label “corn-fed” if their feed is not at least 50% grain.

The General Directorate for Consumer Protection emphasized the need for better cooperation between supermarket chains and the authorities. This is precisely so that they can intervene more quickly when necessary.

Producers say that they sometimes end up in desperate situations where they sell their products at too low a price, even though the expenses are very high.

“From the discussions held with various Romanian producers, it follows that they accuse retail stores of enormous pressure on the price. Often being forced to sell their products at a loss.

The high costs of sanitation and the need to reflect them in the price of the product is one of the reasons why certain producers decide to give up on them in order to have a lower price”, notes the director of Consumer Protection.