ANPC warning on the eve of the Easter holidays: Be careful with fish products

The National Authority for Consumer Protection (ANPC) urges consumers to pay special attention to the external appearance of fish products and even to refuse to buy products in relation to which they have doubts regarding the degree of freshness, quality and the way of information through labeling.

The ANPC advice for consumers comes around the Flower Festival, when the consumption of fish and fish preparations increases considerably.

“Around the Flower Festival, in which, according to tradition, the consumption of fish and fish preparations increases considerably, the National Authority for Consumer Protection (ANPC) draws attention to the potential dangers that can be encountered when purchasing these particularly perishable products and recommends consumers to take into account a few tips, respectively: to pay special attention to the external appearance of the product, in order to form a first assessment of its degree of freshness; not to purchase products with a sticky, dehydrated surface, with mold stains, products with a modified smell and color, with an old appearance; to refuse to buy fish and fish products for which they have doubts regarding the degree of freshness, quality and way of information through labeling; to follow the way of labeling fish and fish products and not to buy unlabelled prepackaged products”, it is specified in an ANPC press release, quoted by Agerpres.

According to the cited source, consumers should also refuse to buy prepackaged fish and fish products, on the labels of which the date of minimum durability/date of consumption limit is not written or if this date is changed or exceeded.

At the same time, when buying fish and fish products, they must request and keep the receipt in order to be able to try it if, in a justified way, they want to claim the quality of the product.

Consumers must take into account the fact that frozen food products must be sold only in a frozen state, and when thawed, they must present the unmodified taste and smell, characteristic of the respective assortments. It is also forbidden to refreeze frozen food products and they must be processed as soon as they have been thawed.

ANPC also recommends to buyers not to purchase products where they find the existence of product agglomerations in the form of blocks or the presence of ice in the packaging and to pay special attention when buying frozen food products, to the way the packaging is presented. Likewise, they must not purchase products where they find that the packaging is dirty, degraded, not tightly closed and does not ensure the product’s sanitation.

“It is extremely important that all consumers take into account these recommendations, in order to avoid unpleasant situations that could endanger their health or even their lives”, said Sebastian Hotca, interim president of ANPC, in the press release.

ANPC warns consumers that, in previous years, teams of commissioners, following control actions, found non-compliant products on sale, such as: fresh mullet exposed for sale on a bed of ice whose muscle had a flaccid consistency, soft belly, swollen – mixed with mullet that was fresh and without defects; fresh carp with visible signs of spoilage (eyes retracted into the sockets and soft belly), the product was exposed for sale beyond the consumption limit date; salted mackerel, in a vacuum, with liquid in the package, due to deviating, the product having a soft consistency and a non-specific smell; mackerel with frostbite, due to incorrect storage; canned “sardines in natural oil” which had declared, on the label, a net quantity of 200 g and a fish content of 120 g, i.e. 60%, compared to the minimum 70% stipulated; canned “sardines in vegetable oil”, according to the declarations on the label (“ingredients: sardinella gibosa 72%, water, soybean oil 5.6%), which in reality had a water content of around 22%, compared to maximum 8% allowed; pangasius fillets with a declared protective glaze of 20%, where, after defrosting, a glaze proportion of over 28% was determined; frozen cod, origin Spain, on the label of which glaze is declared “0”, and after laboratory analyzes it was determined 4.99% glaze; prepackaged products labeled incorrectly or incompletely, without mentioning all the ingredients and without writing the minimum durability date on the label; the use of improper names/mentions intended to mislead consumers (herring from Norway, marketed under the name of Danube mackerel; baby herring from Poland, marketed under the name of oblet).

“A frequently encountered deviation during the control actions, carried out in previous years, is the non-compliance with the conditions of storage and exposure for sale, respectively: fish exposed in improper conditions directly on the pavement, fish that presented organoleptic changes – detached scales, consistent muscle flaccidity , fish and fish products stored outside the refrigerated space, at ambient temperature, in an unorganized and unauthorized warehouse, salted fish (sprout and bream) stored in a refrigerated unit, but which does not ensure the storage temperature established by the manufacturer”, emphasizes Consumer’s protection.

Publisher: CLB

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