The consumers who want to purchase animal and non-animal food products have the right to ask for documents showing that these comply with the quality standards. Among the documents showing the product is inoffensive and safe are the certificate of inoffensiveness and the test report issued by an accredited laboratory, Afanasi Tarlev, deputy director general for food safety and consumer protection at the National Food Safety Agency, has told IPN. He noted that he was contacted over reports concerning the withdrawal of a large lot of melons from the market because these contained higher than allowable nitrate levels.
The buyers should make sure that the products have documents confirming their quality, safety and inoffensiveness. “The nitrates or pesticides are used to give an attractive appearance to the product. It is not enough for an animal and non-animal product to look attractively. We must make sure that the product is inoffensive. We can be sure of its safety only by seeing the corresponding documents. The consumer has the right to ask the seller or food operator to provide quality verification documents,” stated Afanasi Tarlev.
According to him, it is recommended avoiding buying products from street vendors or from unauthorized commercial units. The consumers must buy food products only from authorized units or from registered sanitarily-veterinary units as only these are subject to control by the National Food Safety Agency.
If noncompliant food products are identified, the consumers can call the Agency on 0(22) 26 46 43.
An imported consignment of melons weighing 2,416 kg was withdrawn from the market on Monday after it was determined that the level of nitrates in the fruit was higher than allowed. The National Food Safety Agency assures that together with the appearance of season fruit and vegetables, it is stepping up inspections based on the supervision program.
