Consumer protection commissioners start restaurant investigations

• 11 tons of food inadequate for consumption found on sale

• Fines of up to 3.6 million lei levied

Commissioners of the Romanian Consumer Protection Authority (ANPC) have controlled 907 units - self-service restaurants, fast-food restaurants, express salad bars, pizza shops, restaurants, bars, and 567 stores in urban and rural areas.

Investigators checked around 140 tons of food, raw materials and dishes. The most serious irregularities found include inadequate storage conditions and exceeded expiration dates.

11 tons of food inadequate for human consumption was taken off the market. Investigators found altered and musty meat, poultry, citrus and other fruit, cheese, olives, with inadequate taste and odor.

Commissioners levied fines of 3,530,400 lei. They uncovered retailers selling cakes which had exceeded their expiration date by as 42 to 180 days, ketchup more than 12 days, puddings (30-210 days), cookies, lady fingers, wafers, chocolate figurines older than 100 days, lemon juice older than 90 days, chicken and minced meat older than 20 days, mayonnaise older than 67 days etc. Companies located in Bucharest and in the counties of Călăraşi, Teleorman, Satu Mare, Neamţ were fined and the products in question were taken off the market.

ANPC also temporarily took off the market 60 tons of foodstuffs which were likely to affect consumer health, until their distributors remedied the irregularities found: inappropriate storage conditions, non-compliance with the recipes or use of inadequate food products in preparing the dishes, offering incomplete information to consumers. The products in question will be investigated again to see if they are fit for consumption.