Rejected imported foods has tripled

UFA, 3 September 2018. /Bashinform News Agency/ translated by Tatiana Aksyutina/. The number of seized imported food products has increased over the past 10 years from 10% to 35%, Rospotrebnadzor (Federal Service for Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare) reported to Izvestia. This is due to the approval in Russia of more stringent food safety standards than the international standards of the countries of Europe and America, in particular, with respect to the content of antibiotics, growth hormones, nitrates, radionuclides, and a number of pathogenic microorganisms in products.

Rospotrebnadzor opposes the reduction of certain indicators of food safety and changes in the rules for labeling food products, which may mislead consumers. The latter concerns, for example, the refusal to indicate the expiry date on some products.

According to experts, the increase in the share of seized imported products is also associated with the fight against sanctions goods, launched in the summer of 2014. According to the report of Rospotrebnadzor, last year the service withdrew from sale 535 tons of banned products (mainly fruit and vegetable products) – by four times more than in 2016 (124 tons).