Author: Klevis Paloka
With the request that inspectors must be effective at every border point against food products imported into Albania. Shkëlqim Hajdari, Inspector General of the Central Inspectorate, bluntly states that food safety continues to be problematic. Going straight to the solution, Mr. Hajdari adds to ACQJ that the entire problem of food safety starts from the non-use of laboratories for every type of product that is produced in the country or imported, “because if we have laboratories, the distribution of any product that is out of standard will be prevented”, suggests the Inspector General. Despite efforts over the years to block tons of products at border points such as meat products, almost 41 tons of bananas, or the blocking of foods that bear counterfeit labels, food safety remains one of the biggest problems faced by Albanian consumers. The fate of the files referred for investigation by various prosecutors remains unanswered, with the exception of those offenders who have been caught red-handed producing counterfeit labels, especially for alcoholic beverages. But in the meantime, the market continues to be filled with products without standard labels, products that are expired, or even products that are marketed without any information that should have explained what the item being sold to the consumer contains.
So many checks, but even more complaints
"I bought fruit yogurt at a well-known supermarket that was supposed to expire on December 17, 2021, and it was all moldy," says Ela, a student who, unlike many others who report food problems on virtual networks or to consumer protection structures, prefers to express her concern only as a table conversation.
Only for the first seven months of 2021, 326 citizens complained to the relevant institutions and requested follow-up of the food problem. Concerns are related to counterfeit products, counterfeit labels and expired items.
"There are also complaints about the ingredients of meat and dairy by-products that are not in the declared and advertised standards, thus reducing the quality of the product. Another complaint is about the storage and trading conditions that are contrary to the law on consumers, food and public health. But there are also complaints about the quality of ice cream, fast food, sausages, meatballs, cream sauces, sausages, eggs and imported chicken meat. Meanwhile, there are also complaints about the quality of bread, the so-called black bread which in many cases is with synthetic dyes. Also added to the complaints of citizens is the one about mixing butter with margarine and olive oil with cooking oil ", declares the Director of Complaints at the Albanian Consumer Protection, Hasan Stafa.
Regarding the fake labels, Shkëlqim Hajdari tells the Albanian Center for Quality Journalism that more institutional accountability is needed.
" There should be strong, professional and laboratory criteria when licensing a product. Anyone who creates a label, some preliminary analyses and verifications are done, but the granting of the label should be strengthened."
Eggs, milk and meat with problems
Hasan Stafa, speaks with statistics on the checks carried out and the subsequent confiscations that have been established together with the National Food Authority.
" From June 12 to July 27, the AKU and the Consumer Complaints Center have jointly carried out 167 inspections in 12 regions of the country. 32 cases of denatured food products have been found in Shkodër, Durrës, Elbasan and Tirana. 17 kg of meat and its by-products have been confiscated. 800 liters of milk and 3164 eggs that were being prepared for ice cream have been confiscated. Over 600 cartons of water and soft drinks displayed in open spaces have been seized. 21 entities have been temporarily closed ," the head of the complaints and consumer protection office told ACQJ.
Even the National Food Authority talks about checks starting from a flow of inspections of 1170 checks from January to May, which have then been translated into fines, seizures and 424 warnings for interruption of activity. The latter refer to the inspection law for cases where violations are found.
"We have imposed 10 fines worth 1.150.000 lek, for violations such as products beyond their expiration dates; deficiencies in the labeling of some food products; lack of traceability of some food products. For the deficiencies found by the inspection bodies during this period, in 6 cases, quantities of 240.82 kg of food products and 420 eggs have been blocked ," the official response of the AKU states.
Prices high, quality questionable
Hasan Stafa looks at the food issue from several perspectives. Not only the quality, fakes, but also the prices are climbing out of control.
" Prices have increased speculatively for basic products. The family basket has increased from 24 to 62%. The price of flour, oil, rice, pasta, eggs, cheese, milk and yogurt has increased," says the Director of Complaints.
While the food safety expert, Alban Zusi, says that the biggest problem is informal and agricultural production as well as products that do not have a name or label.
" Being informal from a fiscal point of view is also informal from a food safety point of view, it is uncontrollable from a food point of view, this problem is particularly pronounced in the chain of livestock products and products of Albanian origin. Products that are sold without a name, without a brand, without a brand name always remain dangerous and the consumer is uninformed about these types of products, " insists the food expert.
According to Zusi, food safety cannot be guaranteed by end-point controls alone.
" What needs to be done better is to control the entire production chain, not just in the supermarket, but from planting the plants in the field, from the birth of the animals in the stable, to then coming to the markets. This is what needs to be regulated in the system, that is, the creation of a control chain from the farm to the consumer's table."
KLSH also spoke, but...
Therefore, an audit of the High State Control in the Tirana Regional Directorate of AKU, for the period January 1, 2018-December 30, 2020, has revealed several violations that this institution has committed.
From the report of the HSC, it is emphasized that some violations were found in terms of the food law for the control of the quality of food products.
From the findings of the SAI, it was concluded that "From the review of the above practice, the SAI concludes that: the sample of the cheese product remained unanalyzed and the indicia raised for this product was not examined to the end, since even after the refusal of the laboratory analysis of the sample, no new sample was taken."
But from KLSH controls, it is revealed that the subject was supplied with a significant amount of "Le guedete" cheese with an amount of about 20 thousand kg, in two supplies on 03.02.2018, selling almost the entire amount to about 200 subjects others.
The audit of KLSH highlights that the safety certificates of the "Le guedete" cheese product, related to the import practice, are in the Polish language and not in the Albanian language, an obligation defined in Article 18 of the Food Law . This fact should not be overlooked by the inspectors who carried out the inspection near this subject, who should have taken administrative measures (at least in the amount of 1,000,000 ALL, but they did not), but also by the inspectors of the border point, from where entered the food product.
According to the HSC report, the traceability system has not been fully checked, and therefore it has been concluded that in this case the safety and quality of the food product is not guaranteed due to the lack of reaction of the holders and inspectors.
