Another consignment of contaminated poultry meat from AB Vilniaus Paukštynas is withdrawn from the market
In March, the State Food and Veterinary Service (SFVT) has already received the third report related to unsafe products from AB „Vilniaus paukštynas“ in the Emergency Alert System RASFF.
This time, the focus was on fresh broiler chicken wing shoulders (without antibiotics), class A, delivered from the company to „IKI Lietuva“. According to the VMVT, the food safety violation was detected during the supermarket's self-monitoring.
„UAB „IKI LIETUVA" took samples of the product as part of its self-monitoring investigations, which were tested in the laboratory and found to contain 25 g of Salmonella spp. in two out of five samples, as clarified by the MoHH.
IKI Communications Manager Gintarė Kitovė pointed out that as soon as the information about the unsafe products was received, a notice was distributed to customers informing them that they could return the chicken shoulders to any store with a receipt. When asked how many products had been returned, Ms Kitovė confirmed that there had been no returns. This should perhaps not be surprising, as the batch of fresh broiler chicken wings had expired on 11 March, and the information on the food safety infringement was only distributed to customers by the supermarket on 12 March. The RASFF notification No 371 appeared a few days later on 18 March.
Sandra Vičienė, a representative of Vilniaus paukštynas, assured that laboratory tests carried out by the company on samples from the same batch had been negative for salmonella. „After receiving the information from the customer, we immediately took additional steps and started extended investigations to find out the reasons for this case. We are still awaiting the results of the investigations," said S. Vičienė, Communications Manager.
After receiving information from „IKI Lietuva“ about the detection of unsafe products, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has banned the supply of the products on the market, instructed to inform the consumers who have purchased the products and to recover the balance on the market.
„The quantity of the recalled products is 248 kg“, – the figures have been clarified by the MOH. However, the MoVT could not answer whether it had monitored the return of produce to the market and whether it had any data on the number of returns, stating that the information was being updated.
„The entity has been instructed to ensure the safety and quality of the products supplied. Unsafe product supply will result in the application of enforcement measures“, – assured the Authority.
Salmonella spp. bacteria detected in fresh poultry meat can cause salmonellosis. This is an acute infectious intestinal disease. According to the National Centre for Public Health under the Ministry of Health, 346 cases of the disease were registered in Lithuania in 2023. Compared to the 2021 and 2022 figures of 283 and 240 cases respectively, the number of infections is increasing. In addition, 8 outbreaks of salmonellosis were recorded in the country in 2022 and 14 in 2023.
