Citizens complain of unsafe foods, AVUK says any product entering the country is safe

On food safety day, citizens complain that food served in supermarkets is not very safe. On the other hand, food safety institutions say that food is safe in the country.

In addition to complaining that safe food is served to them, citizens complain that they do not receive quality as much as the price they pay.

Citizens Pajazi Tahiri says the foods that are served by brands are not very safe, which requires greater control by inspectors.

I consider it to be more careful, food inspection. We have great faith in our markets, the producers, but they are not going out like that, and the church begs them to be careful. It means in short, I'm saying they're not very safe,”, he says.

Unlike Tahiri, fellow citizen Aferdita Kerkeyni says there are safe foods, while foods offered from businesses to some extent are quality.

There's safe food, I don't know what's safe until we're fed. Most of us also eat household food... not a hundred percent, but roughly it's”, she says.

And citizen Riza Syla complains that trees and vegetables are not quality, while he says prices are many higher than the quality they receive.

Secure none, they're all poison and impervious. I eat a tree, I don't know, there's been a eaten tree before, a soul to enjoy, and today in my backyard, but taste doesn't have”, he says.

At the same time, Citizen Fatime Tahiri says food safety is small, citing that meat products are not stored at adequate temperatures.

Kosovo's “sports are held properly, for example, in summer most locals do not have air conditioning and food decays. These are sweets that melt until I'm out of time. Then, temperatures are inadequate for meat foods”, Tahiri said.

Food safety criticism includes the chairman of the Association “Consumer”, Ceatin Kacanik. According to him, there are many articles about which there are complaints that fail to meet conditions for consumption.

He told Kosovo priss that in rural countries food is even more uncertain, he even says it is disturbing.

We have assurances from the Food and Veterina Agency, on board which I am a member myself, that any food that is properly imported from customs is safe, but when we go out on the market we see the opposite. We have many articles to which there are complaints and remarks. In Pristina and some branding the situation is good, but if we leave the centre to the peripheral neighbourhoods of cities, in particular in supply points in rural areas, the situation is not good at all, countries are also disturbing”, he said.

Kachanic says Kosovo citizens do not get the quality they pay for. According to him, greater control of imported products is needed.

“We have an extremely large imbalance between the price and quality that is offered. As an example, the lemon that most of the markets offer as the first grade is actually the class, no one controls or handles it. When we take it and see that lemon isn't for consumption, eventually if you do it to squeeze it for a liquid, but for other purposes it won't. The other, which is extremely important, but which despite our commitments as an organisation has still not been taken into account by anyone, is the quality of imports from some countries. Most states produce that quality that a certain state has potential and technical-laborator capacity to examine, to ascertain quality... the same product in Kosovo, which is not the same quality, costs more than in the EU manufacturing state, I'm saying we've signalled”, he said.

Food and Veterinary Agency Director Valdet Djindovci told Kosova Preis that the products they control are safe and meet the security criteria for use.

He says day-to-day activities are under way with the aim of providing safe products for consumers and citizens.

From what we do, we control and above all monitor the process, whether the import process, whether the process of producing food products that are realised locally by local producers and processers, I say with full conviction that products that we control are safe products and meet the safety criteria for use. We as institutions' officials and head of institutions are these very products that we consume on our tables. So in this direction the Food Agency is the one that guarantees food products that are produced, processed, but also those that are imported”, he said.

Djindjic indicated that from January to the end of May, 16,650 official controls of the import of plant-born products and 3,081 inspections or inspections of animal-born products have been conducted at the border points.

While, from January to now, AVUK has removed some 100,000 pounds [100 kg] of food from use.

“From January to now, about 100,000 kilograms or even litres of food products have been removed from consumption and are not allowed for use. There are these figures always based on official control and carried out on the ground, but also on consumer co-operation with our institution on the basis of information, which they make”, Djindovci said.

AVUK has about 70 Sanitarian, veterinarian and phyto-sanitary inspectors, who, according to Djindovci, is not enough to do the search to the extent they want.