March 6. A notification (No 358) has been published in the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) of the detection of Salmonella spp. in chicken from Poland.

Fresh meat from boneless and skinless thighs of broiler chickens was imported into Lithuania by the Polish company „Animex Foods so z.o.o“. The consignee of the consignment is „Maxima Vilniaus“ X588 UAB „Nordnet“.

When asked by the retailer to comment further on the situation, Indrė Trakimaitė-Šeškuvienė, Head of the Communications and Corporate Communications Department at „Maxima LT“, stated that the situation is known. Unfortunately, the unsafe chicken was sold. The representative of the retail chain said that 568 kg of poultry meat had been received.

Slightly different figures were provided by the HPAI. The Authority stated that the food safety infringement was detected by the Polish authorities during an inspection. The information was then forwarded to the European RASFF system.

„Latvia has informed that the quantity entering Lithuania is 2 411.51 kg“, – the data was clarified by the representatives of the VMVT. They also stated that the information has been communicated to the public and operators have been informed to withdraw the products from the market and recover them from consumers. However, the investigation is ongoing.

„Only after receiving information about potentially unsafe chicken, we put up information posters in shops urging customers to return the product with the indicated expiry date to the shops“, “ confirmed I. Trakimaitė-Šeškuvienė. However, she said, there were no returns.

„We carry out daily self-testing and recalls when unacceptable levels of bacteria are found. We immediately informed the supplier of the situation. He is taking corrective action to ensure that this does not happen again," said Ms Trakimaitė-Šeškuvienė about what is being done to ensure that similar situations do not occur. She added: "Ensuring food safety and quality is one of the top priorities for the supermarket chain „Maxima“, which is why we are constantly carrying out quality control. When we find that a product does not meet quality requirements or when we receive information from manufacturers or suppliers about potentially unsafe or poor quality products, we react immediately and take all necessary measures to control the situation and inform our customers.“

Unfortunately, this is not the first time consumers have bought unsafe meat from a supermarket. At the end of last year, „Agrobite.lt“ already wrote about the fact that „Maxima“ had distributed 3 162 kg of chicken and pork contaminated with salmonella bacteria on the market between 25 November and 10 December.

Consumers of the largest retailer are urged to keep an eye out for information and reports of unsafe products and goods in stores and, once purchased, not to consume them in any way and to return them to store management with a receipt or other information confirming the purchase.