Agriculture Minister Daniel Constantin, ensures that aflatoxin-contaminated milk has never reached store shelves.. The Minister also says he is satisfied with the controlling policy procedure of the National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA) and with the veterinarians activity.
However, the head of the Agriculture did not like the way the public communication was handled.. If people were informed on time, the panic among consumers would not have been generated, the minister said.
"I’ve asked the chief of ANSVSA to present what is happening, the checks being performed. If we had told what was going on, people would not have been so scared. I’ve asked him to present the traceability chain. From the point of view of the communication I am not satisfied, basically yes, "the Agriculture Minister Daniel Constantin said.
The chairman of Agrostar is asking for Ţurcanu’s resignation from the ANSVSA management: He mismanaged the infested milk crisis.
The chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of Foods, Frumosu Dragos said that the ANSVSA chairman should be dismissed after, out of " excessive zeal" he created panic among the population of Romania through his announcement that there was toxic milk on the stores shelves.
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ANSVSA announced Monday that milk samples from three farms and two processing facilities suspected of having exceeded the admissible limits for aflatoxin, came up from the analysis in the veterinary health network and food safety laboratories.
According to the quoted source, in accordance with the provisions sent by the President of the National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority, on 7-8 March, national wide thematic inspections in production, collection, processing and marketing of raw milk were carried out.
Also, dozens of kilograms of cheese from milk that might be contaminated with a carcinogenic toxin were withdrawn from sale in Gorj. Veterinary inspectors argued that there was no danger to consumers.
Then ANSVSA announced that it had stopped the supply of raw milk from a farm after the aflatoxin was detected in the products above the permissible limits, ordering the checks across the country, from producers to milk processing units.
On March 5, all milk from which samples were taken, of 13,855 liters was blocked, while all deliveries of raw milk to milk processing units and direct sales of milk through vending machines were stopped.
The milk contaminated with aflatoxin can be dangerous to health, in terms of consumption of large amounts for an extended period.
Aflatoxin is produced by fungi spores of the Aspergillus kind . In other words, it develops at the same time as the mold and it occurs there where fodder is stored in wet conditions.
The contaminated fodder reaches the animal’s body. From there on, it can contaminate the milk and the meat and through consummation the human body.
Large amounts ingested can cause liver disorders with time.
Representatives of the National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA) deny the news that some toxic milk had been two days on the market before being withdrawn.