Health hazard! – Budapest warehouse sold food expired several years ago

The National Food Safety Office (Nébih) prevented more than 40 tonnes of expired food from being sold at a storage place in Pest County, in Törökbálint, near Budapest, after inspecting several warehouses of the company.

According to the Food Safety Office, there was food among the products that expired 5-6 years ago, 444 highlighted.

During the multi-day inspection of the Everest Top Trading 2014 Kft. based in Törökbálint, the inspectors found 419 items, a total of 40,531 kilograms of food intended for distribution, which either had exceeded their shelf life or have already expired.

Products included, for example, cocoa expired in 2015, candies with a shelf life that ended in 2016, cake coating, cake glaze, stock cubes, baking powder that expired in 2017, bread cakes, but there were also foods of animal origin that expired several months ago.

Over the course of the inspection, the official inspectors ordered the products in question to stop being placed on the market with immediate effect, called for their withdrawal from the market, and placed them under official control. Proceedings and the imposition of the fine are in progress, Nébih said.

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Nébih winter inspection period

Nébih inspected 1,424 cases during the winter inspection period, and fines were imposed in 90 cases for violations found.

The inspection, ordered by the Secretary of State for Food Chain Supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture and led by Nébih, lasted from 1 to 12 December.

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Norbert Erdős, State Secretary for Food Chain Supervision at the Ministry of Agriculture, added that amidst the festive preparations, the inspectors also paid increased attention to the documents proving the origin of the live fish sold, which were available in most places. The indication of origin for fresh pork and poultry meat met the requirements, with two exceptions.

A total of 136 samples of bejgli, walnut, poppy seed, dried and fresh chicken meat were sent to the laboratories of Nébih, and only 5 walnut and 2 poppy seed products got flagged in terms of taste, smell, and colour. Salmonella infection was not detected in any of the samples.

This year, the authorities are also paying special attention to the marketing of chestnuts, and so far, only one batch from China has been found with mould, which was withdrawn from the market.

No food safety violations have been found during the inspection of alcoholic beverages, according to Nébih.

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Source: 444.hu, Nébih