Food and Veterinary Agency: 560 checks on ice cream and ice this summer, fines totalling €19,430

The Food and Veterinary Agency (FVA) carried out intensified unannounced checks of ice cream and ice producers from the beginning of July until the end of August, finding numerous irregularities and issuing fines, the agency reported.

Scope and main findings

During the two-month campaign inspectors performed a total of 560 checks at production sites and hospitality businesses that make ice cream or ice for their own sale. As a result, authorities issued 140 formal decisions documenting non-conformities.

A total of 45 monetary fines were imposed, amounting to 19,430 euros in denar equivalent. Inspectors deemed 202 liters/kilograms of ice cream and ice unsafe and those products were destroyed.

The inspections also showed that 17 operators were not registered as food business operators with the Food and Veterinary Agency. Sixty-four operators had not conducted required analyses of ice cream or ice, while 20 were found to have improper product labelling. Three businesses purchased ice from an unregistered supplier.

Health and hygiene shortcomings were widespread: at 10 operators staff members had not undergone mandatory health examinations; five premises showed unsatisfactory technical and hygiene conditions; 19 operators lacked documented Good Manufacturing and Good Hygiene Practice procedures and had no cleaning procedures for ice-making equipment. Four operators had no traceability records, and at one operator mandatory disinfection, pest-control and deratization measures had not been carried out.

The checks were carried out in line with provisions of the Law on Food Safety. The FVA said the measures aim to protect consumer health by ensuring that production, labelling and supply chains for ice and ice cream meet legal requirements.

Photo: Chapman's Ice Cream Canada / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)