UNMIK ON AIR
Lack of
Quality control in Local Products
2 March
2004
Valon A.
Syla
A mere 0.2 percent of local food products for every 1000
inhabitants are currently being tested by the National Public Health Institute
in Kosovo, leaving 99 percent of these products without any quality controls
for food safety. Although, imported
products make up more than 85 percent of the food available in the Kosovan
Market, food safety is on the minds of many in region. In Kosovo, there is no agency nor regulation
dedicated to testing and guaranteeing the quality and ingredients of the food
listed on product labels.
Hello and welcome to UNMIK ON Air…
In any of the supermarkets in Prishtina one will notice a
range of locally grown or manufactured products, but 99 percent of these goods
do not bear the stamp of approval by the Kosovan National Public Health
Institute verifying if the food is safe for consumption. Tahire Maloku Gjergji
is the doctor in charge of the Department of Hygiene which tests a small
percentage of food products in Kosovo:
There is no agency in
Kosovo dedicated to testing the quality of food products imported or
domestically produced.
But who evaluates the
products which are not tested at the National Public Health Institute… consumers
are likely to be the best to assess the situation. People in Kosovo have a
false sense of security that particular domestic products, like milk, are of
excellent quality, but consumers are suspicious of a variety of other products. Many in the region, like Ali Spahiu, say
they doubt the quality of products not just domestically grown and produced,
but are also suspicious of the safety of food and meats imported from countries
like Turkey and Thailand-- which are
not known for having a high standard of food safety.
Ali Spahiu goes out
nearly everyday to buy food for his family and says he only feels confident
when he purchases fresh produce:
Ali Spahiu: Many of the products that are sold to us in Kosovo,
for example sausage, God knows were it is produced and it costs 2.5 €. On the
other hand, meat costs 4.5 €; how can sausage be made and with what kind of
meat for that price? The sausage can only be made by some frozen meat which
comes from somewhere abroad, and you can find that at the market for 2 to 3 €.
The only products I trust in 100 percent to be safe in quality are beans,
potatoes and onions.”
Concerns of catching
food-born illnesses like harmful bacterias are common.
Other consumers,
younger than Ali Spahiu, have less confidence in the quality of food products
sold in the Kosovo market. Aida Krasniqi is a student from Peja and spoke to
UNMIK on Air while grocery shopping in Prishtina:
Aida Krasniqi: I am afraid of getting food poisoning. I often look at the expiration date of products
especially for chocolates and other sweet goods. I don’t have very much confidence, they often are counterfeited.
Fehmi Havolli owns a
mini market in Prishtina and says no matter the quality of the product, it is
still sold in the Kosovan market:
Fehmi Havolli: Many consumers believe in domestic products
others do not have confidence because domestic products are not controlled by
any institute, national or international. Many people are afraid to consume
domestic products. But for some they have a false sense of confidence in
products like milk, fruit juices, and some carbonated drinks, ketchups, these
are consumed by people with confidence whether or not these products are
controlled by a food safety institution because they have confidence in the brand
of the product for some time.
According to the
National Institute for Public Health in Kosovo, new laws are needed to regulate
and guarantee the quality of domestic food sold in the region. Doctor Tahire
Gjergji of the National Institute of Public Health explains that formal
protections are needed to hold producers accountable if there are instances of
botulism or other food-born illnesses in the food supply.
Tahire Gjergji: “The solution of this issue, I see with the
founding a special agency that will guarantee and control food quality. This
particular institution will define clearly other institutions that will control
the food present in market. Also the
increase of number of inspectors would have an impact in solving this issue,
that would fulfill the needs of controlling the food articles.”
Even as few products
are tested and controlled, Doctor Gjergji appeals to consumers in Kosovo to buy
only products bearing the stamp of the health institution which guaranteed the
product safety.
Currently, Doctor
Gjergji says, no one can be certain of the safety the majority of food products
available in supermarkets and urges the Kosovo Government to make it a priority
to draft laws and create the necessary institution to regulate food products.
That was all for this
edition of UNMIK on Air. Thanks for listening and stay tuned for more.