Food quality in the limelight in Europe

The scandal over the double standard on the quality of food has reached Romania. The Romanian authorities are making verifications

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Roxana Vasile, 27.02.2017, 13:40

A product, including packaged food, bought in the west is of better quality than a product by the same brand sold in Romania. Romanians travelling abroad who have bought products from the west have been able to see this for themselves. In fact, there has been talk for a long time among customers of shops in the west, most of them occasional, about the different quality of products depending on the country where they are sold.

At the weekend, this issue was given wide coverage in Romania, with the authorities saying they will begin checks, given that the accusation has circulated in other central European countries as well. The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia also complain that the food products sold in their shops are of poorer quality than those in the west and accuse food makers of using cheaper ingredients in products for the European Unions poorer members.

The checks are welcome, says the president of the Romalimenta Employers Federation in the Food Industry, Sorin Minea, who recalls, however, that there is a lot of focus in Romania on “the cheapest price, something that cannot ensure best quality. He also says that at the moment it is impossible to establish common standards at European level.

Sorin Minea: “Its hard to say if special products are made for the countries in the East. Producers sell what they are asked to. If a retail chain asks for a product that complies with certain parameters and a certain price, the producer will provide it. Starting from the premise that the countries in the East are poorer, those responsible for marketing in the countries in the East provide cheaper products. Cheaper translates into poorer quality. As for whether some products are sweeter in the West or in the East or whether they may or may not contain sugar, thats information that can be found on the packaging. As long as producers list the ingredients and the content on the packaging, I dont understand what they are accused of.

However, not all international products sold in Romania are cheaper than in Western Europe. In fact, prices in the national currency, the leu, are the exact equivalent of the prices in euros or dollars, down to the last cent.

So, until authorities finalise their verifications to see exactly what the situation is, the president of the Consumer Protection Association Sorin Mierlea told consumers what they can do to benefit from better quality products: “Romanian consumers must take an attitude and report everything. This will help us establish casuistry and to pressure the authorities to do their job, to have a survey, to be in the same context as the other members of the European Union.

At this point, food makers say the difference in the content of the products is given by … local tastes.