BRATISLAVA, April 14, (WEBNOVINY) — Agriculture Minister Zsolt Simon continues his campaign for food safety in Slovakia’s retail chains ahead of Easter. At a news conference on Thursday, he said that inspectors have found problems in over thirty percent of inspected stores in the pre-Easter period. Minister Simon called it “an alarmingly high number.” Inspectors have conducted over 2,000 inspections altogether. They started on March 1 and, as Simon said, merchants mostly expected inspections of sweets, candies and chocolates, but inspectors focused mostly on dairy and meat products, vegetables and fruit as well as baked goods. Simon also said that fewer flaws were found in sweets sections and the situation evidently improved compared with the time before Christmas. Many shortcomings were detected in the area of vegetable and dairy products.
Minister Simon is outraged about the situation in stores across Slovakia. He named a few examples of mislabeling of weighed goods in Tesco, Billa and Lidl stores. He even mentioned a case in which mold was found on Camembert cheese that was two months after its shelf life ended and meat that was in disgusting condition.
The Ministry of Agriculture is preparing changes to applicable legislation and the new piece of legislation should be submitted for interdepartmental review shortly. The new law should stipulate sanctions as well as the obligation to display the outcome of inspections at the entrance to stores. The law on veterinary care, which is connected with the planned legislation, has already been drawn up. Along with the new legislation, food codes, which in some cases exceed the framework of European legislation, should also be revised. The ministry follows the motto: “Those selling are responsible for what they sell and cannot claim that they import goods in such condition.” “Why is it that we get goods that lack quality, goods that are not wanted anywhere else in Europe, here in Slovakia?” asks Simon.
SITA