Contaminated milk to be removed from shelves

BELGRADE The Ministry of Agriculture says that milk "whose samples show the possibility of higher than permitted levels of aflatoxin" will be withdrawn from stores. The announcement came on Tuesday afternoon, without specifying which producers and product the decision concerned. Contaminated milk to be removed from shelves The ministry said that "additional analyses confirmed the possibility" that the milk contained more of cancerogen than is considered safe, and explained that samples would be sent to the Netherlands for superanalysis. Pending the return of those results, the unspecified milk products would be taken off the shelves. According to the ministry, its inspectors would also determine where the contaminated raw milk came from and ban deliveries from those farms. Finally, the statement noted that the levels of aflatoxin present in the products "cannot cause any type of health problems". The Association of Consumers of Serbia (APOS) reacted to this by calling on Agriculture Minister Goran Knezevic and Trade Minister Rasim Ljajic to resign for keeping the public in the dark on the issue. The Somboled dairy, located in Sombor, northern Serbia - owned by the Croatia-based Dukat - issued a statement on Tuesday to say that it was withdrawing some of its products from the stores, "in agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture, regardless of the fact that official results that could confirm the presence of the toxin are still awaited". On Monday, the deputy president of the Vojvodina provincial government said that "29 out of 35 milks samples had increased levels of aflatoxin". Goran Jesic took to Twitter to post the results of what he said was "an interim analysis" of milk samples taken from stores in Novi Sad. He later uploaded a chart to his website, which he said contained the said results. Milk is being analyzed in Serbia by the authorities but also by consumer groups after it was discovered last week that Croatia's Vindija and Dukat dairies produced milk contaminated with higher than permitted levels of the cancerogenic substance. The Ministry of Agriculture and the National Organization of Consumers said earlier that the levels in Serbia were lower than the permitted 0.05 micrograms per kilogram. After making his announcement on Twitter, Jesic called a news conference where he said that the milk samples taken in Novi Sad were analyzed by "an accredited laboratory in Becej". He added that two other laboratories were expected to return their results on Wednesday and Friday. Asked whether it was appropriate to first tweet about matters as serious as this, Jesic said he "had to react", but also "apologized for disturbing the public like that". He at the same time rejected accusations that his actions were motivated by political reasons, and asserted that the source of the contamination was last year's corn, adding that "this would not have happened if there was a timely reaction and if the case was not covered up". Veterinary Administration official Sanja Celebicanin told B92 TV that the authorities, based on monitoring, "did not discovered concentrations of aflatoxin that should cause panic", but added that "monitoring is not representative analysis". "Based on the data received last week we did a complete control of all forms of milk and that procedure is still ongoing," she said, and added that "real data requires analysis and superanalysis". Local Self-Government Minister Verica Kalanovic said earlier that she on Tuesday morning spoke with Agriculture Minister Goran Knezevic, who told her that "the whole milk situation is under control and that it is very dangerous to create panic". The ministry and the government are in constant communication with authorized labs, and it has been agreed to carry out analyse not only milk, but also cattle and cattle feed. According to Kalanovic, Knezevic will today meet with milk producers, inspectors and lab officials in order to ascertain "what exactly is the situation concerning milk". (sxc.hu, stock) B92 Beta

Contaminated milk to be removed from shelves

The ministry said that "additional analyses confirmed the possibility" that the milk contained more of cancerogen than is considered safe, and explained that samples would be sent to the Netherlands for superanalysis.

Pending the return of those results, the unspecified milk products would be taken off the shelves.

According to the ministry, its inspectors would also determine where the contaminated raw milk came from and ban deliveries from those farms.

Finally, the statement noted that the levels of aflatoxin present in the products "cannot cause any type of health problems".

The Association of Consumers of Serbia (APOS) reacted to this by calling on Agriculture Minister Goran Knežević and Trade Minister Rasim Ljajić to resign for keeping the public in the dark on the issue.

The Somboled dairy, located in Sombor, northern Serbia - owned by the Croatia-based Dukat - issued a statement on Tuesday to say that it was withdrawing some of its products from the stores, "in agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture, regardless of the fact that official results that could confirm the presence of the toxin are still awaited".

On Monday, the deputy president of the Vojvodina provincial government said that "29 out of 35 milks samples had increased levels of aflatoxin".

Goran Ješić took to Twitter to post the results of what he said was "an interim analysis" of milk samples taken from stores in Novi Sad.

He later uploaded a chart to his website, which he said contained the said results.

Milk is being analyzed in Serbia by the authorities but also by consumer groups after it was discovered last week that Croatia's Vindija and Dukat dairies produced milk contaminated with higher than permitted levels of the cancerogenic substance.

The Ministry of Agriculture and the National Organization of Consumers said earlier that the levels in Serbia were lower than the permitted 0.05 micrograms per kilogram.

After making his announcement on Twitter, Ješić called a news conference where he said that the milk samples taken in Novi Sad were analyzed by "an accredited laboratory in Bečej". He added that two other laboratories were expected to return their results on Wednesday and Friday.

Asked whether it was appropriate to first tweet about matters as serious as this, Ješić said he "had to react", but also "apologized for disturbing the public like that".

He at the same time rejected accusations that his actions were motivated by political reasons, and asserted that the source of the contamination was last year's corn, adding that "this would not have happened if there was a timely reaction and if the case was not covered up".

Veterinary Administration official Sanja Čelebićanin told B92 TV that the authorities, based on monitoring, "did not discovered concentrations of aflatoxin that should cause panic", but added that "monitoring is not representative analysis".

"Based on the data received last week we did a complete control of all forms of milk and that procedure is still ongoing," she said, and added that "real data requires analysis and superanalysis".

Local Self-Government Minister Verica Kalanović said earlier that she on Tuesday morning spoke with Agriculture Minister Goran Knežević, who told her that "the whole milk situation is under control and that it is very dangerous to create panic".

The ministry and the government are in constant communication with authorized labs, and it has been agreed to carry out analyse not only milk, but also cattle and cattle feed.

According to Kalanović, Knežević will today meet with milk producers, inspectors and lab officials in order to ascertain "what exactly is the situation concerning milk".