Officials from the National Authority for Consumer Protection (ANPC) began inspections of major fruit and vegetable suppliers and found several violations, including moldy fruit or disorderly storage facilities. 6 tons of vegetables and fruits worth 20,000 lei were finally withdrawn from sale.

Representatives of the National Directorate for Consumer Protection said on Friday in a press release cited by News.ro that they have started inspections of the main suppliers of fruits and vegetables in large Romanian chain stores.

Currently, four warehouses located in Ilfov county, belonging to business operators Unifrutti Impex SRL, Algida Center SRL, Hera Frucht SRL and Deco Frucht SRL, are under control.

The main violations identified by ANPC commissioners were:

• the presence of organoleptically disturbed, moldy fruits that differ in size from the caliber declared on the label;
• poor hygienic and sanitary conditions in working premises (including warehouses, packaging area);
• covering with damaged areas (splits), walls with unevenness, dirty ceiling, contaminated areas with accumulations of water and dirt, improper care;
• non-observance of the legally stipulated storage temperature regime for vegetables and fruits;
• the presence of boxes with fruits and vegetables without elements of identification and description of products translated into Romanian.

Control groups were fined 15,000 lei and temporarily stopped selling 200 tons of fruit.

In addition, ANPC commissioners finally withdrew six tons of vegetables and fruits worth 20,000 lei from sale.

At the same time, 28 samples of vegetables and fruits were taken to determine the values ​​of pesticides, nitrates and nitrites by the laboratory of the Directorate of Veterinary Sanitation and Food Safety in Bucharest.