The officials in charge of alimentation at education institutions should review their activities and remove the existing shortcomings so that no irregularities are allowed, while the people’s confidence in food safety should be restored. The food products to all the education institutions should be delivered through food complexes so that one decision maker bears responsibility. Such suggestions were formulated in public hearings staged by the parliamentary commission on education, research, youth, sport and mass media, IPN reports.

Vice director of the National Food Safety Agency Ion Toma said a number of players are involved in the delivery process, from producers to those who receive the food. The Agency, together with representatives of other institutions, carried out inspections at the sanitary facilities of education institutions before the start of the new school year. The places were irregularities were identified were closed on a temporary basis.

Eudochia Tcaci, deputy chief doctor of the Chisinau Public Health Center, said almost 2,000 samples of food given to children were taken during the inspections. The lab tests revealed about 20 cases of incompliance in kindergartens. As a result, the products were excluded, while those in charge were penalized. There was only one case of collective food poisoning that involved five children. The other about 200 cases were individual ones.

Valentin Crudu, division head at the Ministry of Education, said the training level of the personnel that receive food products and prepare food is very low. As a result of the inspections carried out this week, the Ministry of Education identified a series of violations related to alimentation at most of the institutions.

Maria Sarbu, head of the Council of education and science trade unions, noted that they repeatedly asked to raise the salaries of education system employees as the pays of cooks and medical assistants are very low and professionals do not come to fill these posts.