No excessive lead content detected in food samples - National Food Agency
A memorandum was signed today between the Georgian Agriculture Ministry, the National Centre for Disease Control and Public Health and the United Nations Children’s Fund in Georgia to prevent lead exposure to children and adults, with the document involving research on the content of lead in spices, the Agriculture Ministry said. Photo: agronews.ge
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Georgian authorities have detected no excessive lead in food sold in the country after inspecting 118 samples of various products, the National Food Agency announced on Thursday.
Samples of meat, milk, fish and baby food products in six regions of Georgia, including capital Tbilisi, were subjected to the inspection.
After investigating the presence of heavy metals, including lead, in food of animal and plant origin and water, the Agency said the “minimisation of violations” had been the result of “intensified controls”, “special measures” taken by the body and its “active communication” with the business sector over the recent years.
Additionally, a memorandum was signed today between the Georgian Agriculture Ministry, the National Centre for Disease Control and Public Health and the United Nations Children’s Fund in Georgia to prevent lead exposure to children and adults, with the document involving research on the content of lead in spices, the Agriculture Ministry said.
The memorandum aims to implement a programme that will ensure the study of the issue, while also enabling the Agency to develop recommendations to ensure safe nutrition for children.
In 2017, 97 out of 712 food samples showed violations of norms for their contents, while last year, presence of lead did not exceed the permissible limit in any of the 500 samples examined, the Agency said.
The Georgian National Food Agency has fined 20 slaughterhouses across the country for violating hygienic norms, the body said on Thursday.
The Adjara government in western Georgia, with the support of UNICEF Georgia, has launched a pilot project to investigate the source of lead exposure in children between two and seven years of age.
Inspection groups from the National Food Agency are inspecting seasonal fruits and vegetables across the country, taking samples from various retail outlets and produce markets to determine the concentration of nitrates in freshly harvested fruits and vegetables.
The lead level in children’s blood has gone down, the Head of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Amiran Gamkrelidze stated today.
The National Food Agency of Georgia on Wednesday warned customers who have purchased Chinese-made ceramic plates from the Junior series by Ambition at Domino hypermarket in Tbilisi, after lead was detected in the product following testing.
Georgia’s National Food Agency has detected excessive lead in four types of spices out of 197 samples tested, the state body announced on Wednesday.
The National Food Agency of Georgia has fined and suspended 15 food facilities in the Black Sea coastline region of Adjara after inspections revealed “critical inconsistency” with safety, sanitary and other regulations.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said lead poisoning “stands out” as one of the “most pressing” public health challenges in the world, including in Georgia, at the panel discussion titled Towards a Lead-Free Future, held on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The National Food Agency of Georgia on Wednesday said the European Commission had “positively assessed” the state system for controlling presence of aflatoxins - a various poisonous carcinogens and mutagens produced by certain moulds - in Georgian hazelnuts.