Tons of Albanian tomatoes, peaches and recently peppers have been blocked by Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina and Slovenia, due to high levels of pesticides in them. Consumer protection authorities have asked the population of these countries not to consume them and if they have bought them, to return them to the points of sale. The news was reported by foreign media, and the European Union has also reacted to the problem. But in Albania, not only has silence been deafening, but they continue to be sold freely in Albanian markets.
Everywhere today, in both wholesale and retail outlets, there were boxes full of tomatoes, peppers and fish. It is not known whether these are the same quantities blocked by the aforementioned countries, but the fact is that the Ministry of Agriculture has not reacted to the measures taken after this incident.
The situation
Just a day ago, after tomatoes and peaches were seized in Croatia, a quantity of red peppers was seized in Slovenia. The Geaprodukt company in Slovenia, which deals with the trade of fruit and vegetables, has asked consumers to return the product to the stores where they purchased it or throw it in the trash.
They were found to contain high levels of pesticides such as acetamiprid, formetanate and flonicamid. The product, exported from Albania to Slovenia from August 24 to September 4, was packaged in cardboard boxes and then in plastic bags. According to foreign media, the Slovenian company has asked all citizens not to consume the product, due to the excess pesticides, but to return it to the place of purchase or throw it away. Meanwhile, people who have been in contact with contaminated food should disinfect their hands, Slovenian authorities announced.
According to data from the European RASFF system, in samples taken on the market on August 26, 3 types of pesticides were identified as hazardous to health, so they were requested to be withdrawn from the market. Due to the risk, an 'alert notice' was issued by the Slovak state in this case.
In July alone, 3 other shipments of peppers from Albania were stopped in Croatia and Slovenia with the same presence of pesticides.
Meanwhile, on September 3, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina blocked peaches from Albania, as they contained pesticides. Croatia also destroyed 4 tons of Albanian tomatoes, after they were found to have been sprayed with 5 times the permitted amount of the insecticide chlorfenapyr. The dangerous tomatoes were buried by the Croatian state, which also destroyed 5 tons of peaches from Divjaka on August 22, because a high presence of the heavy metal, nickel, was found in this Albanian fruit.
EU reacts to Albanian peppers: They contain 3 types of pesticides
After a food trading company in Slovenia called for the withdrawal of Albanian peppers containing pesticides from the market, the alarm has also been raised by "RASFF", the European Union's agency for Food Safety.
In a recently released announcement, the EU Food Safety Agency considers the situation serious, explaining that analyses have shown that 3 types of pesticides were found in Albanian peppers; Formetanate, Acetamiprid and Flonicamid.
After the pesticides were detected, the EU Agency has notified Albania as the country of origin, as well as Austria and Croatia as countries where Albanian peppers would be exported. Slovenia is also on this list, but it was precisely this country that first raised the alarm, demanding the withdrawal of Albanian peppers from the market.
