The use of food additives approved by specialized institutions in products is not dangerous for the consumer. Those producers who decide to offer a premium product such as corn chicken.

Director General of the Directorate for Market Control and Surveillance and European Harmonization within the ANPC, Paul Angel, is clarifying the “dyed chicken”, explaining the conditions under which producers can write on the labels that the birds were fed corn, according to News .ro.

Angel also reports that batches of chickens from European Union countries and from Romanian farms were withdrawn from the market after detection of salmonella in the meat.

“The message we are sending to retailers, whether they are large supermarket chains or other types of stores, is that they should stop looking only at the price of the product, mostly to the detriment of quality and compliance,” says an ANPC official , stressing that Romanian producers blame “huge pressure on prices from retail stores”.

In a public announcement Saturday afternoon, Paul Angel explains the tests conducted to detect salmonella bacteria in the chicken.

“In the context of the European Union’s increased and ongoing efforts to stop this, together with our colleagues at ANSVSA, we are working closely to identify suspect parties and make them unavailable. As a result of the monitoring, salmonella strains were detected both in chicken meat from the EU, Poland and Hungary, as well as from Romania.

Regarding Romanians, we are talking about batches of chicken meat from a producer in Vaslui county, where the highly pathogenic strain was confirmed, as well as suspected batches from large producers in Bacău and Buzău counties, about which we are not yet aware. have confirmation of serotyping,” the official representative of the ANPC reports.

He notes that the relevant lots have been withdrawn from sale until the results of the analyzes are received. Angel also says that the purpose of inspections and public communications on this matter is to “assure the Romanian consumer that ANPC is an institution that never sleeps and constantly monitors compliance with the law.”

“Painted chicken” and “metaphorical”

Paul Angel also wanted to clarify about the “painted chicken”, saying that he assumes all consumers understand that it is “a metaphorical expression intended to describe our ongoing concern for complete, correct and accurate information about products in general and in this case about chicken meat”.

“The use of food additives approved by specialized institutions in products is not dangerous for the consumer. Those producers who choose to offer a premium product, such as corn-fed chicken, use a grain such as corn to obtain a product of better quality visually and qualitatively.

We constantly monitor their compliance with legal labeling regulations, so that the label “fed with corn” is only allowed if at least 50% of the bird feed is corn. Naturally, under the conditions of using such feed, the meat and epidermis of birds should have a yellow color”; Angel also writes.

Manufacturers claim price “pressure” from retailers.

“We want good cooperation with supermarket chains and all types of stores in Romania, so that together we can offer the best products to customers in our country. In critical situations like those described above, it is important to take all necessary measures urgently, that is, not after 2-3 hours, but immediately.

From discussions with various Romanian producers, it appears that they blame retailers for putting enormous pressure on prices, often forcing them to sell their products at a loss. The high costs of sanitary services and the need to reflect them in the price of the product is one of the reasons that some manufacturers decide to abandon them in order to have a lower price,” notes the director of consumer protection.

Paul Angel also has a message for traders.

“The message we’re sending to retailers, whether they’re large supermarket chains or other types of stores, is that they need to stop looking only at product price, mostly at the expense of quality and fit,” Angel writes. . (News.ro)