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Agriculture : Infocons: 40 per cent of the half-prepared foods at sale on the Romanian market are fake
Infocons has sent a notification to the National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA), the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Authority for Consumer Protection (ANPC) and the Prime Minister according to which 40 per cent of the half-prepared foods at sale on the Romanian market are fake, Sorin Mierlea, head of the Consumers Association - Infocons, stated on Friday, while warning that, in case he will not receive an official answer, he will make the result public.
"We sent you a notification (ANSVSA - editor's note) three weeks ago, with respect to the fact that 40 per cent of the half-prepared meat foods on sale on the Romanian market are fake. Based on the analyses that we've made, we expect a reply from you related to this matter," Sorin Mierlea said at the debate "Consumers protection - an essential element in building a more comprehensive and balanced domestic market," organized by the European Institute in Romania and the Infocons Association.
He also specified that the analyses carried out on the half-prepared foods were made by Larex and the laboratories attached to the ANSVSA, showing a difference in composition compared with what is displayed on the product label.
"In our opinion these are products that lie and deceit the consumer and we expect the authorities to take the necessary measures. Afterwards we are making this public. If they do not take any measures within 30 days, we are going to make a press release with the problems we discovered," said Mierlea.
The ANSVSA vicepresident, Traian Constantin Petcu, who also attended the debate, said that a working group has already been established to focus this matter.
"In what concerns the composition, the fact that it's respected or not and the products contains exactly what the label says it contains - this was a problem that the Minister of Agriculture, Petre Daea, also signaled in the recent days and we already took the initiative. A few days ago I had a meeting with the ANPC head, the ANSVSA head, MR. Geronimo Branescu, and we are looking for a solution, such as a programme under which we can randomly select a number of products from the market, not necessarily processed meat products, it could be also dairy products, we will take a sample and send it to the laboratories," said Traian Constantin Petcu.
He also specified that the results will be communicated to the Minister of Agriculture, and if there are any mismatches between the results and the data mentioned on the label, then under the criminal laws these facts will be considered fraud.