FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Mold fermentation, dirty water and lack of hygiene: The production of milk and by-products in Albania is a bacterial bomb. EU experts call for urgent measures before they are forcibly closed by Brussels...
Albania's confrontation with the food safety chapter in the European Union integration process has brought to light an alarming reality: the country is completely unprepared to meet the standards required by Brussels in the milk production sector and its by-products.
Dairies and milk processing factories in Albania operate in scandalous hygienic-sanitary conditions, outside any technical protocol required by the EU. Separate facilities for the different stages of production are lacking, the water used for washing and mixing is of questionable quality, the floors are not covered with anti-acid tiles as required, and no professional process is applied for periodic disinfection of the premises.
One of the most serious cases was discovered in Divjaka, where a dairy was caught with a full 33 tons of cheese produced and stored without any legal documentation or hygiene-sanitary certification. No invoice, no trace of the raw material or the final destination of the product. A gigantic quantity, which could not have been released on the market without the knowledge of the control institutions, including the National Food Authority (AKU), which in this case seems to have been silent or pretended not to have seen anything.
The production facilities are not only irregular in infrastructure, but also inherently dirty. In some cases, animals are kept right next to the processing facilities, where the smell of feces and bacterial load overwhelm any attempt at “formality”. Moisture vapors create layers of mold on walls and ceilings. There is no technical discipline for the fermentation, aging or storage of dairy by-products.
Furthermore, there is a complete lack of controls on the chemical and microbial composition of products. Cheese, butter and yogurt sold in markets often contain microbial loads that exceed the permitted limits tenfold, becoming a direct risk to public health. And this is happening while state inspectors, in charge of consumer protection, have turned “control” into a bribery routine.
In this situation, it is more than clear that Albanian institutions are not fulfilling their constitutional obligation to protect the life and health of citizens. The EU, through the food safety chapter, requires strong standards and law enforcement at every link in the agri-food chain. If the Albanian state does not act immediately to close these dairies and factories that operate in a criminal manner, then EU experts will be forced to do this for us – with serious consequences for the sector, for farmers and for the integration process itself.
It is the moment of truth. The health of citizens and the credibility of the state cannot be sacrificed for the sake of abusers who have turned food into an illegal means of profit. Either the government acts today, or tomorrow the doors of Europe will be closed to us, with the shame that we will drink together with a glass of fermented milk in mold. / Pamphlet
Lini një Përgjigje