State Food Safety Service: All products which safety is in doubt are under examination

ArmInfo. "All products which safety is in doubt are under examination," the press secretary of the State Food Safety Service of Armenia, Nvard Arakelyan, said in a conversation with ArmInfo correspondent, referring to the publications that provoked public outcry about the availability of low-quality chicken meat for sale in Armenia, horse meat, donkey meat and other dubious products.

Arakelyan assured that information on the implementation of horsemeat and donkey in the guise of beef is not true. "In fact, we found meat of unknown origin in the warehouse, it did not have all the necessary documents, and for us it became the basis for the examination." We have information that this meat is stolen. "Now the meat is on examination and when it is completed , we will publish the results, "the spokeswoman stressed.

She noted that careful quality control of meat products is one of the primary tasks of the State Food Safety Service. "We are doing our best to minimize risks in the food market, we are drafting new bills that are much more stringent in terms of our concept, and we are also carrying out a number of measures to ensure that such incidents are minimized shortly," Arakelyan assured.

As for the appearance of chicken meat contaminated with salmonella in the domestic market, Arakelyan stated that all samples of chicken meat, both imported and domestic, are also under examination at the moment. "After the completion of the examination, we will publish the results, we are doing everything possible to protect our consumers," the spokeswoman said.

She also noted that during the year the State Food Safety Service of Armenia conducted more than 1200 inspections and in 300 cases when any violations or inconsistencies were discovered, the sale of these products was discontinued. "I can only tell you the figures of the work we have done, but let the rest be decided by consumers, but I want to note that if state structures jointly with the Armenian public cooperate well, we will manage to avoid unpleasant incidents and violations," Arakelyan said.

In his turn, the chairman of the public organization "Informed and Protected Consumer" Babken Pipoyan said that the current state of the Armenian food market is simply monstrous. "If out of 9 copies of chicken, 5 species are inappropriate standards and not suitable for food, what can we say, from which the conclusion suggests that the State Food Safety Service does not follow the products that come to our market at all," Pipoyan said. .

He also noted that there is no smoke without fire and statements that the market sells horse meat and chicken meat, infected with salmonella, most likely corresponds to reality. "All that is happening now is the result of the negligent attitude of our state structures to their work.The panic has begun and it can not be stopped.Of course, the Prime Minister raised this issue during the Government meeting and stated that it was necessary to take measures, however, in our case, no measures will save the situation. "The only thing that can give a positive result is serious personnel changes," the expert said.

He also noted that a year ago Prime Minister Karapetyan also drew the attention of officials to the fact that the consumer food market is in a deplorable state, and after a year there are still no results. "If our state structures do not fulfill their duties, then they are not trusted, and trust can only arise if the State Food Safety Service of Armenia starts to monitor the goods that come to our market," Pipoyan concluded.

Note that on December 14 in the press there was information that in the Armenian market under the guise of beef sold horsemeat and donkey, and of 9 copies of chicken 5 were unsuitable for use in food, and in some, Salmonella was found. Totally 35 tons of infectious birds were found on Armenian counters as a result of bacteriological examination. However, these data did not concern local producers, but importers.  In particular, we are talking about whole chicken, wings, and brisket of Brazilian, Ukrainian, and also Russian production. The press also leaked information about the availability of low-quality grain products on the market.