Genovci: Food products are safe for consumption

Despite checks on local meat as well as imported, however, more than 120 tons of spoiled meat and animal products have been eliminated during the past year.

During the following year, about 750,000 pounds [50,000 kg] of food products have been eliminated as a result of public health risks.

Djindjic in an interview for Kosova Prees, says controlled products are safe for consumption. According to him, even in 2020, they will continue to be committed to having quality products for every Kosovo consumer and family in their operation.

“About concerns that even citizens raised, guaranteed and assured that the Food and Veterinary Agency is committed to providing safe food products, whether from animal origin or from plant origin, which are available for consumption and use, but also for those who entered the processing process on the part of different local operators. So I want to race that all products that are controlled and monitored by the inspectors of the Food and Veterinary Agency are safe products for consumption or for use at our family tables”, Djindovci says.

The head of the AUV states that during the past year, the staff of the agency has been committed to implementing the work targets in terms of checking food products, at the same time preserving the health of animals under the activities that have been carried out on the ground.

Djindjic has added that AUV is focused on realising the control of food products, both those of import and those produced in Kosovo.

“As far as the destruction of food products this year is about 750 thousand kilograms of various food products that have been eliminated and not allowed to be consumed or used, including products in this case of fluids, fruits and vegetables, but products of animal and plant origin... Through animal health protection policies for the presumption of various infectious diseases, 75 animal leaders have been eliminated as a result of infectious disease, so under it it has been worked on preventing touching consumers and public health”, Djindov said.

The AUV has also managed to prevent smuggling of all those food products that have attempted various subjects to introduce them into Kosovo, including live animals.

As it went to border control, about 465,000 official cargo controls have been realised, where this year recorded in the system are 95 pending charges.

Djindovci says it is challenging to work inspectors who are also underachievers and on weekends, just to have more public health security.

With this current number we have, it requires a commitment because inspectors are often obliged to even on weekends and outside official hours to engage on the ground to implement official activities and controls that are realized to producers and processors generally”, he said.

Speaking of the food and veterinarian laboratory, he points out that during the next year, he has successfully conducted laboratory analysis of samples coming from the official control plan of 26 thousand and 290 samples, of which were samples of raw milk about 18 thousand 411, microbiological analysis 309, the 523 chemistry section 957, pathology and 6047 seology.

As he added that the laboratory has been subjected to periodic reevaluation on the part of the Accreditation Directorate, and this year the method for the serotipization of salmonella has been discredited.

An estimated 4300 samples for laboratory analysis have been taken in the checks, testing them in several parameters and about 500 stages for hygienic conditions of space that have been subjected to sanitation control.

And during the search, 256 bees have been eliminated as a result of various diseases and have eliminated some 30,000 seedlings.