Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Scavuzzo: “Continuous and constant control action in defense of consumers”
 
Milan, August 18 2019 – With an average of 100 checks per month in restaurants and food shops in Milan, the Consumer Protection Unit of the Annonaria of the local police monitors compliance with the rules: from checking the expiry dates of food to the methods of conservation, with particular attention to fresh and frozen ones, up to the correct hygiene practices that operators are required to respect. In grocery stores, checks are mainly dedicated to stocking and regular cleaning.

The result in the first six months of 2019 was 3 criminal seizures, with 3 people under investigation for having put food on sale in a poor state of preservation, 40 administrative seizures and 480 dispute reports.
 
“The Local Police Annonaria carries out constant and valuable work, above all to protect the health of all consumers and customers of restaurants, delicatessens and food shops – explains the deputy mayor and councilor for Security Anna Scavuzzo -. The protection is also, however, for the many restaurants and shops that respect the rules and that suffer unfair competition from those who instead use subterfuge or deception to obtain greater economic income".
 
The checks are scheduled both on the initiative of the agents throughout the Milan area and following reports from citizens: as regards restaurants, the majority of the latter arrive to report strong odors coming from the premises. In this case the agents verify the presence of odor dispersion systems and their certification.
 
In addition to hygiene standards, checks in commercial establishments focus on how packaging is stored and on compliance with deadlines. In fact, it is not uncommon for boxes to be found on the shelves with the expiry date well past their expiry date; but there are also 'creative' attempts to modify them: from the stroke of a pen that changes a number to the whiteboard that covers the entire original date, up to the cutting of the part indicating the expiry date and the printing of a new label with the stamp attached in a other part of the package.
 
For restaurants, however, greater attention is paid to cleaning the kitchen and dishes and preserving food, both fresh and frozen. All food found to be poorly preserved or which does not comply with the conservation rules is subjected to criminal seizure, when the food is poorly preserved or has parasites, or administrative seizure, when it is put on sale after the expiry date.
 
Some advice for customers of commercial establishments: always pay attention to the labels and deadlines, check that the writing is in Italian, check that the packages are intact and there are no bulges, remember that in the plastic packages of preserved fresh products (for example pasta) there must be no condensation, as this indicates an interruption of the cold chain. Anyone who buys frozen products must check that the packages are not stuck together or completely covered in ice and that there are no congealed liquids inside, as this could mean that the product has been thawed and then refrozen.