1. General information
2. What are the facts about pangasius fish?
3. Quality of foodstuffs in the CR – article of JUDr. Janeček
4. Quality of foodstuffs in the CR – study of the Slovak Consumers' Association
5. Unreliable information sources - hoaxes

You could encounter the Internet article written by JUDr. Jaroslav Janeček assessing the quality of foodstuffs in the CR (see Related documents - in Czech language only). CAFIA opinion is as follows:

Within its responsibilities, CAFIA checks whether foodstuffs are produced in compliance with legislation, whether they are safe and comply with quality requirements, are they laid down. For example “špekáček” mentioned by the author of the article, which is produced in the CR, shall contain no less than 40 % of meat. If there are quality parameters laid down for certain sorts of foodstuffs, producers shall comply with them. It is true that CAFIA cannot impose sanctions for their sale.

For example alternatives of milk products, see article “Cheeses are not cheeses but substitutes where milk protein is substituted by plant protein” can be produced and also placed on the market. They are products, during which production milk component was partly or completely replaced by another component, mostly by plant fat. However, such products can be sold under certain conditions laid down by legislation and expression such as cheese, butter, milk cannot be used, as they can be used only for products where milk component was not substituted by another one. Parameters for such products are unambiguously regulated by legislation. For example if you buy a product labelled as butter, it has to be a product with content of milk fat no less than 80 % and no more than 90 %. Water content is admissible, however no more than 16%. If expression butter is used, it is not possible it contains fat of plant origin which is a component of the majority of substitutes.

The offer on the market is so extensive that every consumer can find such product that suits his/her taste, habits and also financial options. When purchasing foodstuffs we can only recommend that consumers read carefully the composition of the purchased products where they can find information about the particular content or amount and on the basis of this information he/she can decide whether to buy the given product or not.

Naturally, practices mentioned in the article, such as washing of expired meat or replacement of certain meat categories with another ones are inadmissible and in contradiction with legislation.

We can assure you that the Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority carries out, within its responsibilities, inspections on the market with foodstuffs on daily basis. If we find out a violation, we impose a measure for remedy and check whether these measures are fulfilled. We can also impose a ban on production or placing products on the market. CAFIA can also impose fines within administrative procedure if deficiencies are found. If deficiencies are found within an inspection, it is always repeated in order to minimise the risk for consumers. CAIFA informs of unsafe foodstuffs in press releases in media.