When various food products approach their expiration date, markets, supermarkets or stores that sell them must notify suppliers with whom they have agreements to recall them. Once they are off the shelves, the supplier will have to destroy the food goods, a procedure that, according to the food law, also requires the presence of inspectors from the National Food Authority.
But from the information they had gathered, the Economic Crime Unit of the State Police tracked down a food warehouse in Vora, which in its 4 years since opening, had not sought the help of the authorities to dispose of its quantities of expired products, a cost that is legally covered by the business itself.
The agents knocked on the door where they discovered that the warehouse of the company "Master AL" was indeed withdrawing expired food products from the market, but there, certain people were removing the goods from their original packaging, which had an expiration date outside the consumption period, and putting them in larger packages, with transparent packaging up to 5 kilograms, without marking any information.
The police suspect that the main responsibility for this activity lies with the company administrator, who was arrested, along with the warehouseman. The Tirana Court has placed the company representative, Florenc Domin, 38, and the warehouseman, Agim Domi, 58, under house arrest. They have filed a claim in court that the found goods were not intended for sale, but for destruction. "This procedure would take place as soon as the financial conditions were created," they said before the black squads.
The warehouse partner and driver have been released pending investigation.
In total, police seized 716 packages of expired products, mainly dried fruits and croissants, in an operation on Saturday, July 19. The products were imported from Turkey with company logos and in specified grams.
"Master AL" did not directly supply the markets, but distributed the products through wholesale outlets, which then passed them on to the markets, according to demand.
The expired products that were withdrawn from the market and repackaged in the warehouse as new and consumable, according to investigators, were resold at bargain prices but without tax invoices. This is because the company "Master AL" had withdrawn the product to be destroyed and could not justify the sale with a tax invoice of a product that did not even have the tax stamp from the import.
Sources often say that these food items, such as peanuts and dried fruit, were offered in some businesses that made purchases in large quantities, as gifts that mainly bars offer to accompany customers in the event of consuming an alcoholic beverage.
There are reasonable suspicions that expired products have been returned for use even earlier. During the inspection of the warehouse, police sources said that expired products were kept in a shared environment with those that were within the expiration date, which increases the risk of contamination of the latter.
Businesses can also dispose of expired products, but as Report TV learned in Albania, this responsibility is largely left to the supplier, according to an agreement between the parties.
The costs are covered by the food business operator, according to Article 69 of the Food Law. In both cases, the institutions are notified of the destruction procedure and a record is kept at the moment of destruction of the product in the place approved by the institutions./ Report tv