Comprehensive Advent Food Safety Inspection Results

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 12. 22. 11:29

🎧 Hallgasd a cikket: Nyelv: Sebesség: 1.05×

The National Trade and Consumer Protection Authority (NKFH) and the government agencies under its professional supervision inspected catering establishments and Christmas fairs, markets, market halls and shops selling dried fruits, oil seeds, candies and nuts during the Advent period. In the case of candies and oil seeds, some deficiency was found in every tenth product inspected, including information and traceability problems regarding the composition and origin of the product. Meanwhile, the authority also inspected the catering establishments of the Christmas markets, of which 6 units were temporarily closed or their activities were restricted due to hygiene problems.

During the Advent inspections, approximately 1,400 items of oilseeds, dried fruits and sugar from nearly 400 distribution units were inspected to see whether they met the regulations for distribution. Based on the results, some kind of deficiency was found in every tenth product inspected. Most often, consumer information regarding the origin and composition of the products was incomplete, and in several cases, traceability problems were also revealed. Hygiene and food safety deficiencies occurred only in a low proportion, and the experts only rarely found moldy, spoiled or pest-contaminated products.

The authority’s experts imposed a fine of nearly 1.6 million forints, and the amount of additional fines could reach up to 3 million forints. According to experience, the safest shopping locations were regularly inspected retail units and packaging-free stores. Proportionally more deficiencies were revealed at temporary sales points and Advent markets.

The accredited Food and Chemical Industry Laboratory of the NKFH also tested dipped and filled candy to filter out commercially available products that were misleading consumers. During the laboratory tests, the authority checked the compliance of the markings on the product labels with regard to net weight, coating ratio, fat content and sugar content. The coating ratio of the 20 types of candy (12 types of dipped and 8 types of filled) tested exceeded the required minimum in all cases.

The NKFH and government agencies also inspected the distribution of nuts nationwide, where a complaint rate of approximately 5% was found. Half of the deficiencies were related to labeling and half to tracking problems. As a result of the measures, fines of more than 2 million forints were imposed. Due to the irregularities discovered, the inspectors imposed fines in 19 cases, the total amount of which exceeded 2 million forints.

The experts also inspected the catering units of the Christmas markets. Out of the 176 inspections, in 6 cases it was necessary to restrict the activity or temporarily suspend the operation of the catering unit, since the hygienic conditions for vegetable preparation were not met in the affected units.

In the case of several fairs, the proper treatment of water supply and wastewater was also a problem. There were cases where water was not provided on site, and businesses were not prepared for this. There was no running hot water for hand washing, and the sewage system was not closed. As a further shortcoming, ready-made meals were not always kept at the right temperature, and the conditions for reheating were not provided everywhere.

As a result of the inspections, a total of 5,105,000 HUF in food inspection and food chain supervision fines have been imposed so far.

In addition to Christmas markets and shopping malls, the NKFH also carries out continuous food safety and hygiene inspections at Liszt Ferenc International Airport and at popular entertainment venues in order to protect consumers and ensure that the holidays are spent safely. During the Christmas period, the authority is present everywhere to ensure that customers always have access to reliable and impeccable quality food.