A few days ago, an anonymous post appeared in a Facebook group for the inhabitants of Pastrysti:

„I have noticed several times that our shop in „by the mushroom“ sells expired goods. In the summer, I saw a man return a mouldy bar to the shop. I thought maybe it was just a coincidence, and I reassured the man, thinking it was human error – he didn't see. Unfortunately, we have now bought several products and I did not pay attention to their expiry date. We have eaten them and the child has been severely poisoned – vomiting, crying in pain. I looked at the expiry date and it is still November 2024! Honestly, I can't keep quiet any longer. I would urge everyone to be very careful when buying and I would call on the responsible staff at the shop to take note of this situation. I hope that there will be no more cases like this. Well, you will certainly lose customers this way. If you don't learn your lesson and sell spoiled food.“

The post was followed by stories from other residents about various situations where they bought expired products such as cake, milk, etc., without seeing them.

No complaints yet

Aurelija Stulgienė, Chief State Veterinarian at the Panevėžys District Supervision Unit of the Supervision Department of the State Food and Veterinary Service, said that ordinary inspectors are not allowed to make any decisions under the current algorithms.

„Complaints are evaluated and solved by the centre, which then formulates tasks for regional officials (or not). Residents should go to the VVM website and fill in the form with the heading „Report us“, – said the woman. Pending a specific complaint, the Chief State Veterinarian could not comment further on the situation.

Rare customer

Virginijus Šležas, an elder of Paįstris, said he was surprised by the social media post.

„I myself am not a regular customer of this shop. I stop by about twice a month. I have never had such situations. However, it is possible to accidentally buy various expired goods in the big supermarkets. That is where I have had to buy curdled milk. Well, as far as our shop is concerned, the municipality will certainly not go to the VVM, because that is not our job. However, those who have been affected can feel free to contact us," said the elder.