Minced meat from Romania with pea fibers and biscuits with less vitamin B1 than declared, reported in EU controls.

Minced pork and beef with indicated origin in Romania has been reported in the European food fraud cooperation system after the identification of pea fibers in the product, while in a separate case, Romanian biscuits had a vitamin B1 content of less than half of the declared level. The two cases appear in the European Commission's report for July regarding cross-border non-compliances associated with suspicions of agri-food fraud.

In short A mixture of minced pork and beef from Romania has been reported for the presence of pea fibers, in a case notified by the German authorities. The report categorizes the case of the meat as adulteration through ingredient substitution, but does not specify the amount of pea fibers found. Biscuits with origin from Romania had 0.377 mg of thiamine per 100 grams, compared to 0.84 mg/100 g indicated for the product. The case of the biscuits was also notified by Germany and concerns the difference between the measured composition and the declared information about the product. The European report presents suspicions and non-compliances that may warrant further investigations; the inclusion of a product does not represent a definitive finding of fraud.

The first case concerns minced meat described as a mixture of pork and beef, with Romania indicated as the country of origin. Analyses identified pea fibers, and the German authorities entered the case into the European cooperation system.

The report places the product in the category of adulteration through ingredient substitution. This is used for situations where the composition identified through control differs from the ingredients or characteristics under which the product is presented to the buyer.

In the case of Romanian meat, the document does not specify how much pea fiber was found and does not provide the commercial name, producer, or batch size. The available information shows that the presence of the ingredient was considered sufficiently relevant for the German authorities to transmit the notification to the European network.

Plant fibers can have technological uses in food products, but the issue pursued by control is whether what is actually in the product corresponds with what is declared and with the composition under which it is marketed. The report does not provide sufficient information to determine whether the ingredient was completely undeclared or what the operator's explanation was.

The second case concerns biscuits with origin also indicated in Romania. Analyses showed a thiamine content, vitamin B1, of 0.377 mg per 100 grams, while the declared value was 0.84 mg/100 g.

The measured quantity represents approximately 45% of the declared level. The difference is significant because nutritional information and product composition must correspond to the characteristics of the food placed on the market.

The report categorizes the case of the biscuits as issues regarding the declared information and characteristics of the product. Germany is also the state that transmitted the notification in this case.

The two situations are different. In the case of the meat, control identified an additional ingredient in the product, while for the biscuits, the issue is the quantity of a vitamin that did not match the declared level.

In neither case does the report identify the brand or the company involved. No information is provided about the stores where the products were sold, the quantities distributed, or any potential withdrawal measures.

Neither the presence of the products in the report means that the authorities have already established the existence of fraud. The Commission's document gathers cross-border non-compliances in cases where there are elements that may indicate a fraudulent or misleading practice and which may justify further checks.

To establish fraud, it must also be demonstrated that there was an intention to mislead the buyer to obtain an undue advantage. The monthly report does not establish this responsibility and does not replace the investigations of national authorities.

The European report for July identified 207 cross-border suspicions from 698 iRASFF notifications. The cases are exchanged between national authorities so that products distributed in multiple states can be traced and verified.

Minced meat and biscuits from Romania are two of the cases where controls found differences between the analyzed product and the information under which it was marketed. The available data allow for the description of non-compliances, but not the identification of producers nor the conclusion that frauds have already been confirmed.