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Health experts: Food safety in Albania is zero

Politiko 2025-04-09 16:40:25

Health experts: Food safety in Albania is zero

After repeated scandals over the entry of harmful foods into our country, or worse yet, the delayed notification of their dangers after these products have been consumed by Albanian citizens, health experts blame the authorities who are responsible for our food safety.

Microbiology professor Andi Koraqi says that institutions have a duty to control the quality of foods before they are put on the market, while he regrets the lack of food safety in Albania.

"Institutions have a duty to control the product. Why do they give the answer after it is released on the market? Control is the only method to prevent. We also have all this information from the media. Food safety is zero, almost nonexistent," he says.

As for chicken with salmonella, imported from Brazil for the Albanian market, Dr. Koraqi says that the bacteria can spread if hygiene is not maintained and it is not cooked at high temperatures. Fast food restaurants pose a risk of epidemics, where the cooking temperature of the meat fails to kill the salmonella bacteria.

Another risk to the health of the population is the high content of antibiotics in animal products – meat, eggs, milk, etc. – due to the use of medications in animals. Microbiologist Andi Koraqi emphasizes the need to increase controls in veterinary pharmacies and raise food safety to higher levels.

The entry of tons of salmonella-tainted chicken from Brazil, and then of pesticide-tainted strawberries from Greece, passed by in silence from the responsible institutions. These scandals led to only one resignation – that of the head of the Tirana AKU – as well as many questions and uncertainties among citizens about the risks of the foods they consume every day. /A2

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